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.
(_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause. The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air. The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY. MARY. Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
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 28/70 · 5 reading units · Lines 136–140
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.
for a short time
From this reading “Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!”
in an effective manner
From this reading “The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.”
plural of “lead” — an advantage held by a competitor in a race
From this reading “(_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.”
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading “The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.”
expressing sorrow
From this reading “The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.”
any activity that is performed alone without assistance
From this reading “The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.”
personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
From this reading “The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.”
furnishing support and encouragement
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 before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
for a short time
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
plural of “change” — an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
in an effective manner
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
to come or go into
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
a person of German nationality
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
a sacred place of pilgrimage
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
past form of “introduce” — cause to come to know personally
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
leader of the Nez Perce in their retreat from United States troops (1840-1904)
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
plural of “lead” — an advantage held by a competitor in a race
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
of an obscure nature
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
expressing sorrow
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
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 (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading Here is a place, now I must rest awhile!
precisely, exactly
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
any activity that is performed alone without assistance
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
a short musical composition with words
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
furnishing support and encouragement
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
in or at that place or location
From this reading (_She leads him out at rear R. There is a pause.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The music changes to a mysterious plaintive air.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The old German song, Holy Night, may be effectively introduced as an organ solo._) _Enter from rear right,_ JOSEPH, _walking with a staff and supporting_ MARY.
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.
