Chapter 21 of Cursed be the treasure is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of Cursed be the treasure is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream. The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace. Indeed I didn't think of the future. The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me. Beyond that I didn't look.
Chapter 21 of Cursed be the treasure is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading “The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.”
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading “ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.”
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading “ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.”
yet to be or coming
From this reading “The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.”
pose a threat to; present a danger to
From this reading “The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.”
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading “The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.”
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading “The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.”
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading “ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.”
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 “ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.”
In this reading “The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.”
keep in mind for attention or consideration
In this reading “Indeed I didn't think of the future.”
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 ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading Beyond that I didn't look.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Indeed I didn't think of the future.
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
yet to be or coming
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Indeed I didn't think of the future.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Beyond that I didn't look.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
pose a threat to; present a danger to
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
not any; not one
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
and nothing more
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Beyond that I didn't look.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
in or at that place or location
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Indeed I didn't think of the future.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading The shadows of the past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace.
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
during the time that
From this reading ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The present was all my concern, or at least only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me.
Chapter 21 of Cursed be the treasure by H. B. (Henry Burgess) Drake holds 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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 21 holds 130 sentences of Cursed be the treasure, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Cursed be the treasure by H. B. (Henry Burgess) Drake exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 21 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 Cursed be the treasure by H. B. (Henry Burgess) Drake on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5072 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #75790 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #75790, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 422 minutes of reading across 1015 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cursed be the treasure section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of Cursed be the treasure 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 Cursed be the treasure, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
