Chapter 2 of Croatian Tales of Long Ago is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Croatian Tales of Long Ago is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I’m worse off than ever before. The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.” To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question: “What do you want? I will help you just this once more.”
Chapter 2 of Croatian Tales of Long Ago is here in full — 459 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
-ing form of “burst” — come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
death of a person
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground
From this reading “To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:”
a source of difficulty
From this reading “The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.””
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading ““I’m worse off than ever before.”
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.
anew
In this reading “I will help you just this once more.””
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 To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
earlier than; in front of
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
-ing form of “burst” — come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “What do you want?
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
at any time
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
death of a person
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading I will help you just this once more.”
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I will help you just this once more.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
and nothing more
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading I will help you just this once more.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
on one occasion
From this reading I will help you just this once more.”
make or move along with a sound as of a horse's hooves striking the ground
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
a source of difficulty
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “What do you want?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What do you want?
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading I will help you just this once more.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a question:
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading “I’m worse off than ever before.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “What do you want?
Chapter 2 of Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic holds 459 sentences, grouped into 92 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 2 holds 459 sentences of Croatian Tales of Long Ago, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 459 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 2 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 Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2248 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60095 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60095, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 187 minutes of reading across 450 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Croatian Tales of Long Ago section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Croatian Tales of Long Ago 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 Croatian Tales of Long Ago, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
