Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 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 — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SIMEON. An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below. I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night. ANNA. I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 52/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 256–260
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.”
demanding attention
From this reading “I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.”
marked by or showing hopelessness
From this reading “I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.”
ice crystals forming a white deposit (especially on objects outside)
From this reading “An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.”
be amazed at
From this reading “I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.”
a quantity of no importance
From this reading “An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.”
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading “SIMEON.”
plural of “sky” — the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading “An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.”
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 I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading ANNA.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
next to; at the side of
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
brought into existence
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
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 An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
demanding attention
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
marked by or showing hopelessness
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
set up or found
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
ice crystals forming a white deposit (especially on objects outside)
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
be amazed at
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
a quantity of no importance
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading SIMEON.
plural of “sky” — the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading I marvel any little creature should be born On such a night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I found it all forlorn, Crying beside its mother in the storm.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading An ill night to be born in, frost and snow, Naught but cold skies above, cold earth below.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare holds 355 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 355 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 355 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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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.
