Chapter 4 of Absalom's Hair is here in full — 807 sentences across 162 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Absalom's Hair is here in full — 807 sentences across 162 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The next day they were married. That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise. HE could not sleep. As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers. He retraced the events of the past day.
Chapter 4 of Absalom's Hair is here in full — 807 sentences across 162 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/161 · 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.
plural of “event” — something that happens at a given place and time
From this reading “He retraced the events of the past day.”
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading “That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.”
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading “As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.”
having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease
From this reading “That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.”
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading “As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.”
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading “That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.”
past form of “retrace” — to go back over again
From this reading “He retraced the events of the past day.”
the season of growth
From this reading “As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.”
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 As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
later than; following
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading HE could not sleep.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The next day they were married.
plural of “event” — something that happens at a given place and time
From this reading He retraced the events of the past day.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading HE could not sleep.
having or indicating good health in body or mind; free from infirmity or disease
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
joined in matrimony
From this reading The next day they were married.
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading The next day they were married.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
not any; not one
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading HE could not sleep.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
above and across; more than
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading He retraced the events of the past day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
past form of “retrace” — to go back over again
From this reading He retraced the events of the past day.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
in a sorrowful manner
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
the season of growth
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The next day they were married.
in or at that place or location
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
for that reason; as a result
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The next day they were married.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The next day they were married.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading As he lay there he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had no springtime, and therefore no flowers.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading That night, long after his wife had fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thought sorrowfully of his lost Paradise.
Chapter 4 of Absalom's Hair by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson holds 807 sentences, grouped into 162 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 4 holds 807 sentences of Absalom's Hair, unabridged, divided into 162 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Absalom's Hair by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 807 sentences, grouped into 162 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 162 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 162 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 Absalom's Hair by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1954 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5052 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5052, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 162 minutes of reading across 391 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Absalom's Hair section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Absalom's Hair 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 Absalom's Hair, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
