Chapter 12 of They and I is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of They and I is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I AM sorry the house is finished. There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.” It depends upon what you are after. The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar. I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
Chapter 12 of They and I is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
plural of “brick” — rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading “The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.”
make by combining materials and parts
From this reading “There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.””
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading “It depends upon what you are after.”
plural of “fool” — a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading “There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.””
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading “I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.”
a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
From this reading “The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.”
a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
From this reading “There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.””
determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
From this reading “I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.”
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 There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
later than; following
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
a shop where books are sold
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
plural of “brick” — rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
make by combining materials and parts
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
plural of “fool” — a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
activities that are enjoyable or amusing
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
plural of “get” — a return on a shot that seemed impossible to reach and would normally have resulted in a point for the opponent
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
the force of workers available
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
From this reading The fool gets the fun, and the wise men the bricks and mortar.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
To recall to mind.
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
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 I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I AM sorry the house is finished.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
From this reading I remember a whimsical story I picked up at the bookstall of the Gare de Lyon.
having or prompted by wisdom or discernment
From this reading There is a proverb: “Fools build houses for wise men to live in.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It depends upon what you are after.
Chapter 12 of They and I by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome holds 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 12 holds 249 sentences of They and I, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of They and I by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 12 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 They and I by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5022 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2437 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2437, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 418 minutes of reading across 1005 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through They and I section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of They and I 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 They and I, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
