Chapter 1 of History of Beasts is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of History of Beasts is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HISTORY OF BEASTS. PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES. The cat is a very useful domestic animal. She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury. God has formed her to live among men.
Chapter 1 of History of Beasts is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
United States singer (1918-1990)
From this reading “PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.”
third-person singular of “destroy” — do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of
From this reading “She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.”
of concern to or concerning the internal affairs of a nation
From this reading “The cat is a very useful domestic animal.”
any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
From this reading “She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.”
plural of “mouse” — any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading “She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.”
English poet (1880-1958)
From this reading “PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.”
freshwater port and largest city in Oregon; located in northwestern Oregon on the Willamette River which divides the city into east and west sections; renowned for its beautiful natural setting among the mountains
From this reading “PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.”
plural of “rat” — any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse
From this reading “She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.”
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.
any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment
In this reading “The cat is a very useful domestic animal.”
In this reading “God has formed her to live among men.”
In this reading “God has formed her to live among men.”
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 cat is a very useful domestic animal.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
United States singer (1918-1990)
From this reading PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.
plural of “beast” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading HISTORY OF BEASTS.
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
third-person singular of “destroy” — do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
of concern to or concerning the internal affairs of a nation
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
having or given a form or shape
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
the aggregate of past events
From this reading HISTORY OF BEASTS.
any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
the force of workers available
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
plural of “mouse” — any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
English poet (1880-1958)
From this reading PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading HISTORY OF BEASTS.
in other respects or ways
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
freshwater port and largest city in Oregon; located in northwestern Oregon on the Willamette River which divides the city into east and west sections; renowned for its beautiful natural setting among the mountains
From this reading PORTLAND: BAILEY & NOYES.
plural of “rat” — any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading God has formed her to live among men.
being of use or service
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
precisely as stated
From this reading The cat is a very useful domestic animal.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading She destroys the rats and mice, which otherwise would do much injury.
Chapter 1 of History of Beasts by Unknown holds 74 sentences, grouped into 15 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 1 holds 74 sentences of History of Beasts, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of History of Beasts by Unknown exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 74 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 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.
Common questions about reading History of Beasts by Unknown on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 74 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32605 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32605, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 6 minutes of reading across 15 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through History of Beasts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of History of Beasts 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 History of Beasts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
