Chapter IX of At the Queen's Mercy, “The Mad Man of the Moon,” is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter IX of At the Queen's Mercy, “The Mad Man of the Moon,” is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me. Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours. It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage. I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly. Already was the strain beginning to tell.
Chapter IX of At the Queen's Mercy, “The Mad Man of the Moon,” is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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 quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
From this reading “It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.”
intense and profound fear
From this reading “Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.”
tiresomely long; seemingly without end
From this reading “It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.”
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
plural of “minister” — a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.”
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading “Already was the strain beginning to tell.”
to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course
From this reading “It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.”
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading “It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.”
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.
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 It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
past form of “add” — make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
anew
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading Already was the strain beginning to tell.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading Already was the strain beginning to tell.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
set up or found
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
intense and profound fear
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
tiresomely long; seemingly without end
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
immediately past
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
plural of “minister” — a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
not any; not one
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
above and across; more than
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
with speed
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
express in words
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading Already was the strain beginning to tell.
express in words
From this reading Already was the strain beginning to tell.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Again, I may say their coming added no new horror to these last hours.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Thus it was that Agno and his ministers found me.
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading It is the interminable waiting that wears to a thread a man’s courage.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading I would, of my own wish, have that which was to come, over quickly.
Chapter 9 of At the Queen's Mercy by Mabel Fuller Blodgett holds 102 sentences, grouped into 21 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 9 holds 102 sentences of At the Queen's Mercy, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of At the Queen's Mercy by Mabel Fuller Blodgett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 102 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 9 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 At the Queen's Mercy by Mabel Fuller Blodgett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2310 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66602 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66602, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 192 minutes of reading across 462 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through At the Queen's Mercy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of At the Queen's Mercy 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 At the Queen's Mercy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
