A Little Princess: Chapters 9–14

by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ten-year-old Sara Crewe is treated like a princess at her boarding school. When her father dies unexpectedly in India, Sara must live in the attic and work as a maid and errand girl. With the help of her vivid imagination — and a mysterious benefactor — she learns to survive and thrive.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–14, Chapters 15–19
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. slate
    thin layers of rock used for roofing
    The slates spread out on either side of them and slanted down into the rain gutter-pipes.
  2. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    "I dare say it is rather hard to be a rat," she mused.
  3. timorous
    shy and fearful by nature
    "Is it—something that will frighten me?" she asked timorously.
  4. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    At first Ermengarde was too much alarmed to do anything but huddle in a heap upon the bed and tuck up her feet, but the sight of Sara's composed little countenance and the story of Melchisedec's first appearance began at last to rouse her curiosity, and she leaned forward over the edge of the bed and watched Sara go and kneel down by the hole in the skirting board.
  5. pantomime
    a performance using gestures and movements without words
    It was Christmas time, and the Large Family had been hearing many stories about children who were poor and had no mammas and papas to fill their stockings and take them to the pantomime—children who were, in fact, cold and thinly clad and hungry.
  6. invariably
    without change, in every case
    In the stories, kind people—sometimes little boys and girls with tender hearts—invariably saw the poor children and gave them money or rich gifts, or took them home to beautiful dinners.
  7. affluence
    abundant wealth
    Guy Clarence had been affected to tears that very afternoon by the reading of such a story, and he had burned with a desire to find such a poor child and give her a certain sixpence he possessed, and thus provide for her for life. An entire sixpence, he was sure, would mean affluence for evermore.
  8. benign
    kind in disposition or manner
    So he put his hand in his pocket and found his sixpence and walked up to her benignly.
  9. benevolence
    an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
    But Guy Clarence was not to be thwarted in his benevolence. He thrust the sixpence into her hand.
  10. insinuate
    introduce or insert in a subtle manner
    Her small pupils loved her, and strove with each other for the privilege of standing close to her and insinuating their small hands into hers.
  11. alight
    settle or come to rest
    She made such friends with the sparrows that when she stood upon the table, put her head and shoulders out of the attic window, and chirped, she heard almost immediately a flutter of wings and answering twitters, and a little flock of dingy town birds appeared and alighted on the slates to talk to her and make much of the crumbs she scattered.
  12. insolent
    marked by casual disrespect
    ...when the cook had been vulgar and insolent; when Miss Minchin had been in her worst mood, and when she had seen the girls sneering among themselves at her shabbiness—then she was not always able to comfort her sore, proud, desolate heart with fancies when Emily merely sat upright in her old chair and stared.
  13. complacent
    contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions
    She looked at the staring glass eyes and complacent face, and suddenly a sort of heartbroken rage seized her.
  14. ignominiously
    in a dishonorable manner or to a dishonorable degree
    Emily lay on the floor, with her legs ignominiously doubled up over her head, and a new flat place on the end of her nose; but she was calm, even dignified.
  15. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    The rats in the wall began to fight and bite each other and squeak and scramble. Melchisedec was chastising some of his family.
  16. aperture
    a usually small man-made opening
    It seemed as if it would be so nice to see it propped open someday and a head and shoulders rising out of the square aperture.
  17. haggard
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    They came to assist their master, who, when he was helped out of the carriage, proved to be a man with a haggard, distressed face, and a skeleton body wrapped in furs.
  18. impish
    naughtily or annoyingly playful
    He was an impish monkey and always ready for adventure, and it is probable that the sight of a little girl excited him.
  19. obeisance
    bending the head or body in reverence or submission
    He did not presume to remain more than a few moments after he had caught the monkey, and those moments were given to further deep and grateful obeisance to her in return for her indulgence.
  20. admonish
    scold or reprimand; take to task
    The greater number of her evenings she was supposed to spend at study, and at various indefinite intervals she was examined and knew she would have been severely admonished if she had not advanced as was expected of her.
  21. spare
    refrain from harming
    "You don't know that you are saying these things to a princess, and that if I chose I could wave my hand and order you to execution. I only spare you because I am a princess, and you are a poor, stupid, unkind, vulgar old thing, and don't know any better."
  22. candid
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    It almost seemed for the moment to her narrow, unimaginative mind that there must be some real power hidden behind this candid daring.
  23. surfeit
    eating until excessively full
    "I have very few relations," said Ermengarde, reflectively, "and I'm very glad of it. I don't like those I have. My two aunts are always saying, 'Dear me, Ermengarde! You are very fat. You shouldn't eat sweets,' and my uncle is always asking me things like, 'When did Edward the Third ascend the throne?' and, 'Who died of a surfeit of lampreys?'"
  24. decorous
    characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste
    They were extremely decorous little visits because he was an invalid.
  25. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    "Why was I not man enough to stand my ground when things looked black?" Carrisford groaned in petulant misery.
  26. reproach
    express criticism towards
    "Don't reproach yourself so bitterly."
  27. speculation
    an investment that is risky but could yield great profits
    "I don't reproach myself because the speculation threatened to fail—I reproach myself for losing my courage. I ran away like a swindler and a thief, because I could not face my best friend and tell him I had ruined him and his child."
  28. swindler
    a person who steals by means of deception or fraud
    "I don't reproach myself because the speculation threatened to fail—I reproach myself for losing my courage. I ran away like a swindler and a thief, because I could not face my best friend and tell him I had ruined him and his child."
  29. pall
    a sudden feeling of dread or gloominess
    For several days it had rained continuously; the streets were chilly and sloppy and full of dreary, cold mist; there was mud everywhere—sticky London mud—and over everything the pall of drizzle and fog.
  30. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    But she persevered obstinately, and as the muddy water squelched through her broken shoes and the wind seemed trying to drag her thin jacket from her, she talked to herself as she walked, though she did not speak aloud or even move her lips.
  31. squelch
    make a sucking sound
    But she persevered obstinately, and as the muddy water squelched through her broken shoes and the wind seemed trying to drag her thin jacket from her, she talked to herself as she walked, though she did not speak aloud or even move her lips.
  32. ravenous
    extremely hungry
    The sound in the hoarse, ravenous voice was awful.
  33. portmanteau
    a large travelling bag made of stiff leather
    A brougham stood before the door, and a big portmanteau had been strapped upon it.
  34. reconnoiter
    explore, often with a goal of finding something or somebody
    Melchisedec had, in fact, found it rather dull; and when the rain ceased to patter and perfect silence reigned, he decided to come out and reconnoiter, though experience taught him that Sara would not return for some time.
  35. palpitate
    cause to throb or beat rapidly
    He stopped to listen with a palpitating heart.
  36. dexterity
    adroitness in using the hands
    He only knew that the men were invading the silence and privacy of the attic; and as the one with the dark face let himself down through the aperture with such lightness and dexterity that he did not make the slightest sound, Melchisedec turned tail and fled precipitately back to his hole.
  37. precipitate
    done with very great haste and without due deliberation
    He only knew that the men were invading the silence and privacy of the attic; and as the one with the dark face let himself down through the aperture with such lightness and dexterity that he did not make the slightest sound, Melchisedec turned tail and fled precipitately back to his hole.
  38. exponent
    a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
    He was in this place as the intimate exponent of Sara, though she had only spoken to him once.
  39. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
    By the mistress of the house—who is an evil woman—she is treated like a pariah; but she has the bearing of a child who is of the blood of kings!
  40. modest
    humble in spirit or manner
    Ram Dass made a modestly apologetic obeisance.
Created on Wed Oct 30 14:07:42 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Oct 30 14:14:46 EDT 2019)

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