Chapter 2 of Hidden Country is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Hidden Country is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap. “Stop him! —— you! You lousy ——! Stop him!
Chapter 2 of Hidden Country is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
lacking funds
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
very bad
From this reading “You lousy ——!”
-ing form of “moan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
an uneasy psychological state
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading ““Stop him!”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.”
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.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
lacking funds
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
unrestrained by convention or morality
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Stop him!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
very bad
From this reading You lousy ——!
-ing form of “moan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
an uneasy psychological state
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading “Stop him!
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading As the negro broke out into his terrible moaning, the pugilist’s debauched nerves seemed to snap.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading —— you!
Chapter 2 of Hidden Country by Henry Oyen holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 2 holds 409 sentences of Hidden Country, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Hidden Country by Henry Oyen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 Hidden Country by Henry Oyen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5771 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66215 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66215, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 480 minutes of reading across 1155 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Hidden Country section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Hidden Country 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 Hidden Country, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
