Chapter 29 of Flecker's magic is here in full — 103 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of Flecker's magic is here in full — 103 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea. They sky was red. Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough. Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains. The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
Chapter 29 of Flecker's magic is here in full — 103 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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 “crash” — fall or come down violently
From this reading “Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.”
coming to maturity
From this reading “Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.”
plural of “newcomer” — any new participant in some activity
From this reading “The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.”
brought into conformity with a standard
From this reading “Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.”
filled with steam or emitting moisture in the form of vapor or mist
From this reading “"The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.”
inflected form of “strew” — spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic)
From this reading “"The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.”
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading “Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.”
a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt
From this reading “Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.”
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.
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 first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
next to; at the side of
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
without stop or interruption
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
exhale abruptly, as when one has a chest cold or congestion
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
past form of “crash” — fall or come down violently
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
recognizable; marked
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
coming to maturity
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
owning or consisting of land or real estate
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
the force of workers available
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
plural of “mountain” — a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
plural of “newcomer” — any new participant in some activity
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
not any; not one
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading They sky was red.
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading They sky was red.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
brought into conformity with a standard
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
filled with steam or emitting moisture in the form of vapor or mist
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
inflected form of “strew” — spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic)
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They sky was red.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The newcomers decided that this was no place to live.
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading Torrents crashed down the sides of black mountains.
a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt
From this reading Emerging from standardized comfort volcano smoke made them cough.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading They sky was red.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
in or at the place that
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading "The first men landed," continued the witch, "where great rocks were strewn beside a steaming sea.
Chapter 29 of Flecker's magic by Norman Matson holds 103 sentences, grouped into 21 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 29 holds 103 sentences of Flecker's magic, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of Flecker's magic by Norman Matson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 103 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 29 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 Flecker's magic by Norman Matson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3431 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #75585 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #75585, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 285 minutes of reading across 687 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Flecker's magic section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Flecker's magic 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 Flecker's magic, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
