Chapter 3 of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up. "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously. "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice. "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you. It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
Chapter 3 of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “"You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.”
pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
From this reading “"Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.”
a narrow way or road
From this reading “Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.”
informal term of address for someone's wife
From this reading “It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."”
the quantity that can be held in a mug
From this reading “Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.”
failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to
From this reading “"You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.”
disturbed psychologically as if by a physical jolt or shock
From this reading “"Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.”
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading “"And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “"Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.”
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 "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
anew
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
(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 "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
someone who drives a taxi for a living
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
made afraid
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
be the source of pain
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
a narrow way or road
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
informal term of address for someone's wife
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
the quantity that can be held in a mug
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
and nothing more
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
disturbed psychologically as if by a physical jolt or shock
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading It's jest like me, mum, I'm allus a-doing something; ask my missus if I ain't."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Mrs Lane put the mug to her lips, and then made an effort, and sat up.
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading "And my coming brought it all up again, and upset you.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading "Only shaken--frightened," she said, in a feeble voice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You was hurt, then, mum?" said the cabman, anxiously.
Chapter 3 of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One by George Manville Fenn holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 3 holds 409 sentences of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 3 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 Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6449 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32929 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32929, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 537 minutes of reading across 1290 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One 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 Thereby Hangs a Tale. Volume One, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
