Chapter 5 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
His voice sounded as if it were mocking. Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me. “Yes, it’s like this.... He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see.... He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
Chapter 5 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories is here in full — 422 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.
moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
From this reading “Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.”
abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule
From this reading “His voice sounded as if it were mocking.”
a city of central European Russia; formerly capital of both the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia; since 1991 the capital of the Russian Federation
From this reading “He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....”
the time that has elapsed
From this reading “He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....”
possessing material wealth
From this reading “He thought life would wait, till he got rich....”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “His voice sounded as if it were mocking.”
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.”
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading “He thought life would wait, till he got rich....”
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 “Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.”
In this reading “His voice sounded as if it were mocking.”
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 Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yes, it’s like this....
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “Yes, it’s like this....
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
a city of central European Russia; formerly capital of both the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia; since 1991 the capital of the Russian Federation
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
the time that has elapsed
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
possessing material wealth
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “Yes, it’s like this....
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
up to a particular time
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Pavel Semenovich looked at him in mild surprise and turned to me.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His voice sounded as if it were mocking.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He thought life would wait, till he got rich....
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes, it’s like this....
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading He went to Moscow,—to his past, you see....
Chapter 5 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko holds 422 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 5 holds 422 sentences of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Birds of Heaven, and Other Stories by Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 422 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 5 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.
