Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was noontide. The sun was very hot. An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage. She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her. The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
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.
tree (as opposed to shrub)
From this reading “An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.”
be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc.
From this reading “The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.”
the sacred writings of the Christian religions
From this reading “She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.”
a small house with a single story
From this reading “An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.”
a woman of refinement
From this reading “An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.”
a female grandchild
From this reading “She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.”
United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading “The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.”
creating thread
From this reading “An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.”
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 An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
tree (as opposed to shrub)
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc.
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
the sacred writings of the Christian religions
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
a small house with a single story
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a woman of refinement
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a female grandchild
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading The sun was very hot.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was noontide.
and nothing more
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
the middle of the day
From this reading It was noontide.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
creating thread
From this reading An old gentlewoman sat spinning in a little arbor at the door of her cottage.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The sun was very hot.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The sun was very hot.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She was blind; and her granddaughter was reading the Bible to her.
precisely as stated
From this reading The sun was very hot.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was noontide.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The old lady had just left her work, to attend to the story of Ruth.
Chapter 1 of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 by Charles Lamb holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 429 sentences of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 by Charles Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 by Charles Lamb on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4668 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14129 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14129, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 389 minutes of reading across 934 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 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 Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
