Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere. ANNA. Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth. We'll wait for thee upon the little hill. (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 26/70 · 5 reading units · Lines 126–130
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading “ANNA.”
coldness due to a cold environment
From this reading “The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.”
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.”
plural of “point” — a geometric element that has position but no extension
United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading “Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.”
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading “The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.”
tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading “The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.”
move hurridly
From this reading “(_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading ANNA.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
coldness due to a cold environment
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading We'll wait for thee upon the little hill.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
being nothing more than specified
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
plural of “point” — a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
move hurridly
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading Too cold it is for thee, I fear, in truth, Return and get thy cloak, my little Ruth.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading We'll wait for thee upon the little hill.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading We'll wait for thee upon the little hill.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We'll wait for thee upon the little hill.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading The night is chill and cold, I much do fear The little sheep will shiver by the mere.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading (_Points off R._) But speed thy steps, the cold will work thee ill.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare holds 353 sentences, grouped into 71 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 353 sentences of The White Christmas and other Merry, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 353 sentences, grouped into 71 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4783 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19826 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19826, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 398 minutes of reading across 957 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Christmas and other Merry section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The White Christmas and other Merry to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The White Christmas and other Merry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
