Chapter 2 of A Desperate Character and Other Stories is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of A Desperate Character and Other Stories is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘What do you desire?’ ‘Have you a spade?’ ‘I can get one.... But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’ ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
Chapter 2 of A Desperate Character and Other Stories is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading “‘What do you desire?’”
turn up, loosen, or remove earth
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
death of a person
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading “‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.”
a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading “‘Have you a spade?’”
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 ‘Have you a spade?’
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading ‘I can get one....
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading ‘What do you desire?’
turn up, loosen, or remove earth
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading ‘What do you desire?’
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading ‘I can get one....
death of a person
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading ‘Have you a spade?’
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I can get one....
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading ‘I can get one....
term of address for a man
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading ‘Have you a spade?’
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘I want to dig myself a grave, Timofay, and to lie here for time everlasting between my father and mother.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
used to ask for information about something
From this reading ‘What do you desire?’
in the company of; together with
From this reading But what do you want with a spade, Mihailo Andreitch, sir?’
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘What do you desire?’
Chapter 2 of A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev holds 418 sentences, grouped into 84 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 2 holds 418 sentences of A Desperate Character and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 418 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 2 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 A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4914 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8871 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8871, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 409 minutes of reading across 983 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Desperate Character and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of A Desperate Character and Other Stories 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 A Desperate Character and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
