Chapter 3 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow. V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming: “Stop! We shouldn’t have come.” “What’s the matter?”
Chapter 3 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading “His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.”
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
absence of light or illumination
From this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
an abrupt excited utterance
From this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading “His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading ““Stop!”
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading “His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.”
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.
In this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
In this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
In this reading “V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading We shouldn’t have come.”
absence of light or illumination
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
an abrupt excited utterance
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading We shouldn’t have come.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
moving to the inside of something
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “What’s the matter?”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We shouldn’t have come.”
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading “Stop!
happening unexpectedly
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt
From this reading V Andrey Ivanovich stared into the darkness and suddenly he caught hold of my hand, exclaiming:
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading His voice betrayed his terror and sorrow.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We shouldn’t have come.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “What’s the matter?”
Chapter 3 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 3 holds 424 sentences of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 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.
Common questions about reading Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3712 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60256 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60256, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 309 minutes of reading across 743 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Birds of Heaven, 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 Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
