Chapter 1 of Brigands of the Moon is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Brigands of the Moon is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The black cloak covered his head. He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion. Snap's shrill voice was bringing help. The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded. The figure was making off!
Chapter 1 of Brigands of the Moon is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 55/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 271–275
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.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “The black cloak covered his head.”
possessive form of “guard” — a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
close at hand
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading “Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
move with a whining sound
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
make whistling sounds
From this reading “The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.”
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 He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods or mail)
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading The figure was making off!
possessive form of “guard” — a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading The figure was making off!
close at hand
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The figure was making off!
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The black cloak covered his head.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
in the direction of
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in confusion.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Snap's shrill voice was bringing help.
move with a whining sound
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
make whistling sounds
From this reading The whine of a street guard's alarm whistle nearby sounded.
Chapter 1 of Brigands of the Moon by Ray Cummings holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 1 holds 415 sentences of Brigands of the Moon, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Brigands of the Moon by Ray Cummings exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 1 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 Brigands of the Moon by Ray Cummings on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7750 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19066 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19066, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1550 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Brigands of the Moon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Brigands of the Moon 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 Brigands of the Moon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
