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Before Adam

Chapter III · Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Before Adam is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By Jack London • Curated US English Learning Edition

Cover illustration for Before Adam

English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5

The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

Sometimes I was lying on my back.

In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

Narrator

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.

Chapter III Reading 1/28

Before Adam

Chapter III · Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Before Adam is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/28 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1

The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

Line 2

Sometimes I was lying on my back.

Line 3

In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

Line 4

Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

Line 5

But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

Learner Dictionary

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.

Beneath preposition US /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading “But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.”

Dream noun US /driːm/

A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.

From this reading “The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.”

All words in this reading · 59

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.

a

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

always

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

and

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

as

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

back

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

From this reading Sometimes I was lying on my back.

beneathprepositionUS /bɪˈniːθ/

Directly under; in or to a lower position than.

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

boughs

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

But

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

by

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

childhood

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

commonest

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

curled

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

dreamnounUS /driːm/

A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

early

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

foliage

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

forth

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

hours

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

I

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

in

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

It

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

itself

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

lay

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

leaves

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

like

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

lying

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

From this reading Sometimes I was lying on my back.

many

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

mastered

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

me

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

moved

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

my

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

nest

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

of

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

Often

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

on

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

From this reading Sometimes I was lying on my back.

play

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

position

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

seemed

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

small

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

so

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

something

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

Sometimes

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

From this reading Sometimes I was lying on my back.

sort

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

space

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

spent

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

stirring

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

strong

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

sunlight

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

that

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

The

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

this

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

tremendous

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

twigs

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

up

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

very

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

was

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

From this reading The commonest dream of my early childhood was something like this: It seemed that I was very small and that I lay curled up in a sort of nest of twigs and boughs.

watching

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

when

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

From this reading Often the nest itself moved back and forth when the wind was strong.

while

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

From this reading But always, while so lying in the nest, I was mastered as of tremendous space beneath me.

wind

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

From this reading In this position it seemed that I spent many hours, watching the play of sunlight on the foliage and the stirring of the leaves by the wind.

Chapter 3 of Before Adam by Jack London holds 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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.

What does chapter 3 of Before Adam contain?

Chapter 3 holds 140 sentences of Before Adam, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 3 of Before Adam by Jack London exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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.

How do I study chapter 3 of Before Adam?

Work through the 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 28 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.

Can chapter 3 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 3 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.

Questions about reading Before Adam

Common questions about reading Before Adam by Jack London on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of Before Adam?

Yes. All 2488 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #310 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of Before Adam is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #310, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does Before Adam take to read?

About 207 minutes of reading across 498 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read Before Adam section by section

How to work through Before Adam section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

Open a chapter

Choose one of the 18 chapters of Before Adam to begin.
Read one section

Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Listen and tap

Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in Before Adam

Words and structures a reader meets early in Before Adam, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Pictures: A word that appears in the opening chapter of Before Adam; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Often: A word that appears in the opening chapter of Before Adam; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Learned: A word that appears in the opening chapter of Before Adam; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Wonder: A word that appears in the opening chapter of Before Adam; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.