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.
Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm. (_Lies down._) SIMEON. Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm. Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn. (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
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 60/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 296–300
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 living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.”
marked by or showing hopelessness
From this reading “Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.”
young sheep
From this reading “Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.”
a container (usually in a barn or stable) from which cattle or horses feed
From this reading “(SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.”
be amazed at
From this reading “Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.”
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading “Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.”
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading “(_Lies down._) SIMEON.”
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
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 Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
anew
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
brought into existence
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading (_Lies down._) SIMEON.
marked by or showing hopelessness
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
young sheep
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading (_Lies down._) SIMEON.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
a container (usually in a barn or stable) from which cattle or horses feed
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
be amazed at
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Poor little new-born beast, I'll guard from harm.
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
(Old Testament) the 2nd son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel
From this reading (_Lies down._) SIMEON.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
carry out
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
in the direction of
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading Here, take the little sheep and keep it warm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading (SIMEON _walks toward the manger with the sheep in his arms.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Again I marvel that you should be born On such a night, poor little lamb forlorn.
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.
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 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 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 0 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.
