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Herland
Herland

Chapter I · Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Herland is here in full — 322 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By Charlotte Perkins Gilman • Curated US English Learning Edition

Chapter 1 of Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman holds 322 sentences, grouped into 65 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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.

What does chapter 1 of Herland contain?

Chapter 1 holds 322 sentences of Herland, unabridged, divided into 65 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 1 of Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 322 sentences, grouped into 65 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.

How do I study chapter 1 of Herland?

Work through the 65 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 65 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.

Can chapter 1 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 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.

Questions about reading Herland

Common questions about reading Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of Herland?

Yes. All 3366 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of Herland is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #32, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does Herland take to read?

About 280 minutes of reading across 674 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read Herland section by section

How to work through Herland section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 12 chapters of Herland to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in Herland

Words and structures a reader meets early in Herland, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Unnatural
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Herland; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Enterprise
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Herland; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Written
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Herland; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Memory
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Herland; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Cover illustration for Herland
Context Illustration Reading 1/65 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
A Not Unnatural Enterprise
This is written from memory, unfortunately.
If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.
Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.
We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Herland

Chapter I · Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Herland is here in full — 322 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/65 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
A Not Unnatural Enterprise
Line 2
This is written from memory, unfortunately.
Line 3
If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.
Line 4
Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.
Line 5
We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Learner Dictionary

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.

Books noun US /bʊks/

Bound written or printed works.

From this reading “Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.”

Velmora curated lexicon
Memory noun US /ˈmem.ər.i/

The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.

From this reading “This is written from memory, unfortunately.”

Velmora curated lexicon
All words in this reading · 62

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

A

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A Not Unnatural Enterprise

Pending verification
all

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
and

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
be

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
bird's-eyes

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
booksnounUS /bʊks/

Bound written or printed works.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Velmora curated lexicon
brought

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
buildings

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
carefully

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
cities

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
copied

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
could

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
descriptions

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
different

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
Enterprise

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A Not Unnatural Enterprise

Pending verification
firsthand

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
from

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Pending verification
full

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
gardens

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
gorgeous

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
had

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
have

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
I

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
If

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
important

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
in

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
is

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Pending verification
loss

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
lot

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
lovely

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
material

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
me

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
memorynounUS /ˈmem.ər.i/

The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Velmora curated lexicon
most

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
Not

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A Not Unnatural Enterprise

Pending verification
notes

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
of

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
outside

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
parks

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
pictures

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
prepared

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
records

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
so

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
some

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
story

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
streets

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
that's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
the

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
themselves

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
This

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Pending verification
those

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
unfortunately

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Pending verification
Unnatural

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A Not Unnatural Enterprise

Pending verification
very

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
views

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
We

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
Whole

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
with

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
women

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had some bird’s-eyes of the cities and parks; a lot of lovely views of streets, of buildings, outside and in, and some of those gorgeous gardens, and, most important of all, of the women themselves.

Pending verification
worst

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Whole books full of notes, carefully copied records, firsthand descriptions, and the pictures--that’s the worst loss.

Pending verification
would

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading If I could have brought with me the material I so carefully prepared, this would be a very different story.

Pending verification
written

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This is written from memory, unfortunately.

Pending verification