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.
Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small! JOSEPH. Is there room for us? My wife is ill. DEBORAH.
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 34/70 · 5 reading units · Lines 166–170
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.
used to show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “My wife is ill.”
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
leader of the Nez Perce in their retreat from United States troops (1840-1904)
From this reading “JOSEPH.”
possessing material wealth
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
plural of “scribe” — French playwright (1791-1861)
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!”
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 show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DEBORAH.
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Is there room for us?
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading My wife is ill.
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
leader of the Nez Perce in their retreat from United States troops (1840-1904)
From this reading JOSEPH.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
possessing material wealth
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Is there room for us?
plural of “scribe” — French playwright (1791-1861)
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
in or at that place or location
From this reading Is there room for us?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Is there room for us?
precisely as stated
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading Alas, I fear My inn is crowded to the very wall, Soldiers and scribes, the rich, the great, the small!
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading My wife is 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.
