Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
A Daughter of the Snows
A Daughter of the Snows

Chapter XVII

Cover illustration for A Daughter of the Snows
Context Illustration Reading 1/45 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
"Tired?"
Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.
The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.
She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.
"And this time next year?"
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

A Daughter of the Snows

Chapter XVII

Reading 1/45 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
"Tired?"
Line 2
Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.
Line 3
The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.
Line 4
She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.
Line 5
"And this time next year?"

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Across preposition US /əˈkrɔːs/

from one side of something to the other

From this reading “The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.”

Could modal verb US /kʊd/

the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests

From this reading “Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.”

Either determiner US /ˈiːðər/

one or the other of two

From this reading “She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.”

Hands plural noun US /hændz/

members of a ship’s crew

From this reading “Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.”

Last noun US /last/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.”

Next noun US /next/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"And this time next year?"”

One pronoun US /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading “The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.”

Over preposition US /ˈoʊvər/

above and across; more than

From this reading “The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.”

Returned noun US /ˈreturned/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading “She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.”

Score noun US /score/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.”

Time noun US /time/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “"And this time next year?"”

Tongue noun US /tongue/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.”

All words in this reading · 73

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

acrossprepositionUS /əˈkrɔːs/

from one side of something to the other

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

back-log

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

blending

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

bothdeterminerUS /boʊθ/

the two together, not just one

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

chairs

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

children

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

Christmas

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

comfortable

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

compass

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

couldmodal verbUS /kʊd/

the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

Day

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

departed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

dropped

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

eitherdeterminerUS /ˈiːðər/

one or the other of two

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

Eve

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

excitement

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

eyes

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

falling

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

fireplace

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

fondness

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

Frona's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

frostily

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

glad-eyed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

gone

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

guest

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

handsplural nounUS /hændz/

members of a ship’s crew

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

happy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

home

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

huge

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

interest

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

intoprepositionUS /ˈɪntuː/

moving to the inside of something

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

Jacob

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

lastnounUS /last/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

love

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

nextnounUS /next/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "And this time next year?"

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

onprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

orconjunctionUS /ɔːr/

used to join alternatives or possibilities

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

overprepositionUS /ˈoʊvər/

above and across; more than

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

pleasure

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

put

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

returnednounUS /ˈreturned/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

ruddy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

ruin

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

scorenounUS /score/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

ShepronounUS /ʃiː/

a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

shoulders

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

side

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

snow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

spoke

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

stiff

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

thisdeterminerUS /ðɪs/

used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned

From this reading "And this time next year?"

timenounUS /time/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading "And this time next year?"

Tired

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "Tired?"

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

tonguenounUS /tongue/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

tree

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

Welse

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Jacob Welse put both hands on Frona's shoulders, and his eyes spoke the love his stiff tongue could not compass.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/

used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned

From this reading She returned his fondness with glad-eyed interest, and they dropped into huge comfortable chairs on either side the fireplace, in which the back-log was falling to ruddy ruin.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading The tree and the excitement and the pleasure were over with, a score or so of children had gone home frostily happy across the snow, the last guest had departed, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were blending into one.

year

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading "And this time next year?"