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.
An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are. Her name was Venza. She spoke English well. A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement. She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
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 70/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 346–350
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.
highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
From this reading “An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.”
a performer who dances professionally
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
make full, also in a metaphorical sense
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
cause to move by striking
From this reading “She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.”
used of especially merchandise brought from a foreign source
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
a person who sings
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
of or relating to the theater
From this reading “A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.”
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 A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
a performer who dances professionally
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading She spoke English well.
make full, also in a metaphorical sense
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
a young female
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her name was Venza.
cause to move by striking
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
used of especially merchandise brought from a foreign source
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
used to form the superlative
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Her name was Venza.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She spoke English well.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
a person who sings
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading She spoke English well.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
of or relating to the theater
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading An alluring sort of girl, as most of them are.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Her name was Venza.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her name was Venza.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading She spoke English well.
a Caucasian
From this reading She'd made quite a hit on the Great White Way.
which person or people
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading A singer and dancer who had been imported to Greater New York to fill some theatrical engagement.
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.
