Chapter 8 of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Four hours passed. It was midnight. There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense. Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness. The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
Chapter 8 of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 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.
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.”
plural of “canoe” — small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
From this reading “Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.”
a disorderly outburst or tumult
From this reading “Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.”
plural of “drum” — a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading “There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.”
an executioner who beheads the condemned person
From this reading “The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.”
provide physical relief, as from pain
From this reading “There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.”
apprehension about what is going to happen
From this reading “There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.”
(politics) a state of disfavor
From this reading “Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.”
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 Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
plural of “canoe” — small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
a disorderly outburst or tumult
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
plural of “drum” — a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading Four hours passed.
an executioner who beheads the condemned person
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Four hours passed.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was midnight.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It was midnight.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Four hours passed.
provide physical relief, as from pain
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
not in physical motion
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
apprehension about what is going to happen
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The headman appeared before us, and beckoned to Blithelygo and myself to come.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was midnight.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading There was noise of drums and shouting on the shore, which did not relieve our suspense.
(politics) a state of disfavor
From this reading Suddenly there was a commotion in the canoes that still remained near the Wilderness.
Chapter 8 of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete by Gilbert Parker holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 8 holds 425 sentences of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete by Gilbert Parker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 8 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 Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete by Gilbert Parker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4715 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6201 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6201, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 392 minutes of reading across 943 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete 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 Cumner's Son and Other South Sea Folk — Complete, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
