Chapter 40 of Ulysses is here in full — 884 sentences across 177 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter 40 of Ulysses is here in full — 884 sentences across 177 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball. And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall. And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played He broke the jew’s windows all. How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part? With unmixed feeling.
Chapter 40 of Ulysses is here in full — 884 sentences across 177 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/176 · 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.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading “Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.”
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading “And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.”
annoy continually or chronically
From this reading “Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.”
English poet (born in 1930)
From this reading “Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.”
(of games) engaged in
From this reading “And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.”
get something; come into possession of
From this reading “How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?”
not mixed with extraneous elements
From this reading “With unmixed feeling.”
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading “And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played He broke the jew’s windows all.”
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.
(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 Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
lacking funds
From this reading And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played He broke the jew’s windows all.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading With unmixed feeling.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
annoy continually or chronically
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
English poet (born in 1930)
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
throughout a period of time
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
participate in games or sport
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
(of games) engaged in
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
get something; come into possession of
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played He broke the jew’s windows all.
a male human offspring
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading How did the son of Rudolph receive this first part?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
not mixed with extraneous elements
From this reading With unmixed feeling.
precisely as stated
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading And the very first ball little Harry Hughes played He drove it o’er the jew’s garden wall.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Little Harry Hughes and his schoolfellows all Went out for to play ball.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading And the very second ball little Harry Hughes played He broke the jew’s windows all.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With unmixed feeling.
Chapter 40 of Ulysses by James Joyce holds 884 sentences, grouped into 177 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 40 holds 884 sentences of Ulysses, unabridged, divided into 177 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of Ulysses by James Joyce exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 884 sentences, grouped into 177 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 177 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 177 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 40 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 Ulysses by James Joyce 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 #?, a public-domain edition. 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 Ulysses section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Ulysses 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 Ulysses, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
