Chapter 18 of Cudjo's Cave is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Cudjo's Cave is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The black did not answer. Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape. The naked sword gleamed among the twigs. Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs. There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
Chapter 18 of Cudjo's Cave is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
From this reading “Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.”
past form of “ascend” — travel up
From this reading “Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.”
resembling a fork; divided or separated into two branches
From this reading “There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.”
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading “There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.”
past form of “gleam” — be shiny, as if wet
From this reading “The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.”
a projecting ridge on a mountain or submerged under water
From this reading “There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.”
in a nimble or agile manner; with quickness and lightness and ease
From this reading “Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.”
plural of “twig” — a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year
From this reading “The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.”
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 naked sword gleamed among the twigs.”
In this reading “Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.”
In this reading “Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.”
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.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
react verbally
From this reading The black did not answer.
any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
past form of “ascend” — travel up
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
next to; at the side of
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
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 did not answer.
resembling a fork; divided or separated into two branches
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The black did not answer.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
past form of “gleam” — be shiny, as if wet
From this reading The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
a projecting ridge on a mountain or submerged under water
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
plural of “limb” — one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
completely unclothed
From this reading The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
in a nimble or agile manner; with quickness and lightness and ease
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The black did not answer.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
the act of physically reaching or thrusting out
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
fastener consisting of a narrow strip of welded metal used to join steel members
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The black did not answer.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
in the direction of
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
plural of “twig” — a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year
From this reading The naked sword gleamed among the twigs.
up to a particular time
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
the topmost one of two
From this reading Reaching the trunk of the tall tree he ascended that as nimbly, never stopping until he had reached the upper limbs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
in or at the place that
From this reading There was one that branched towards the ledge where Silas clung.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Beside himself with excitement, he ran to the leaning tree and climbed it like an ape.
Chapter 18 of Cudjo's Cave by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 18 holds 426 sentences of Cudjo's Cave, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Cudjo's Cave by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 18 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 Cudjo's Cave by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31406 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31406, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1560 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cudjo's Cave section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Cudjo's Cave 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 Cudjo's Cave, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
