Chapter 4 of Unvarnished Tales is here in full — 473 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Unvarnished Tales is here in full — 473 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair. After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride. She was already a member of Lincoln’s company. She had now become a member of his household as well. Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
Chapter 4 of Unvarnished Tales is here in full — 473 sentences across 95 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/94 · 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.
a female actor
From this reading “Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.”
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading “After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.”
showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others
From this reading “Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.”
zealous in devotion or affection
From this reading “Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.”
a social unit living together
From this reading “She had now become a member of his household as well.”
possessive form of “lincoln” — 16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)
one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)
From this reading “She was already a member of Lincoln’s company.”
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading “Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.”
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.
come to pass
In this reading “After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.”
In this reading “She had now become a member of his household as well.”
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 Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
a female actor
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
later than; following
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
(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 After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading She was already a member of Lincoln’s company.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading She was already a member of Lincoln’s company.
zealous in devotion or affection
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
a social unit living together
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
possessive form of “lincoln” — 16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)
From this reading She was already a member of Lincoln’s company.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
not any; not one
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was already a member of Lincoln’s company.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
carry out
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Milly was a clever little actress, and if she did not really love her husband, she made that devoted man think that she did.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading After all, no such very great change was to take place in the life of the bride.
precisely as stated
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading Lincoln’s wedding was a very quiet affair.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading She had now become a member of his household as well.
Chapter 4 of Unvarnished Tales by William Mackay holds 473 sentences, grouped into 95 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 4 holds 473 sentences of Unvarnished Tales, unabridged, divided into 95 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Unvarnished Tales by William Mackay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 473 sentences, grouped into 95 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 95 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 95 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 4 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 Unvarnished Tales by William Mackay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1879 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52029 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52029, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 156 minutes of reading across 376 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Unvarnished Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Unvarnished Tales 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 Unvarnished Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
