Chapter 12 of Captives of the Flame is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Captives of the Flame is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky. Then blackness, intense and cold. The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away. He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily. Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.
Chapter 12 of Captives of the Flame is here in full — 393 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
plural of “beetle” — insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings
From this reading “The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.”
the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
From this reading “Then blackness, intense and cold.”
in a clumsy manner
From this reading “He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.”
a long narrow depression in a surface
From this reading “Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.”
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading “The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.”
in an expert manner
From this reading “He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.”
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading “The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.”
an intricate network suggesting something that was formed by weaving or interweaving
From this reading “The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.”
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 “The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.”
In this reading “The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.”
In this reading “The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.”
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 The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
plural of “beetle” — insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
From this reading Then blackness, intense and cold.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.
deep-red cabochon garnet cut without facets
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
in a clumsy manner
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading Then blackness, intense and cold.
past form of “crawl” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
a long narrow depression in a surface
From this reading Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
in an expert manner
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
past form of “hurl” — throw forcefully
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree
From this reading Then blackness, intense and cold.
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
by chance
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
perfected or made shiny and smooth
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not clumsily.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then blackness, intense and cold.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
very small
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
precisely as stated
From this reading Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe ten feet away.
an intricate network suggesting something that was formed by weaving or interweaving
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across the sky.
Chapter 12 of Captives of the Flame by Samuel R. Delany holds 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 12 holds 393 sentences of Captives of the Flame, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Captives of the Flame by Samuel R. Delany exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 393 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 12 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 Captives of the Flame by Samuel R. Delany on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4380 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41905 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41905, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 365 minutes of reading across 876 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Captives of the Flame section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Captives of the Flame 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 Captives of the Flame, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
