Chapter 1 of Honeycomb is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Honeycomb is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her. The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves. She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air. It was the end of her journey. Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
Chapter 1 of Honeycomb is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
From this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
past form of “compare” — examine and note the similarities or differences of
From this reading “Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.”
slightly wet
From this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
any of several eruptive skin diseases characterized by hard thick lesions grouped together and resembling lichens growing on rocks
From this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
slightly wet
From this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants
From this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
-ing form of “snuff” — sniff or smell inquiringly
From this reading “She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.”
lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria
From this reading “Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.”
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 “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
In this reading “The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.”
In this reading “When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.”
In this reading “She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
(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 When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
any thing at all
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
past form of “compare” — examine and note the similarities or differences of
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
slightly wet
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading It was the end of her journey.
to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the end of her journey.
undertake a journey or trip
From this reading It was the end of her journey.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
any of several eruptive skin diseases characterized by hard thick lesions grouped together and resembling lichens growing on rocks
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
slightly wet
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
a particular point in time
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.
possessing material wealth
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
-ing form of “snuff” — sniff or smell inquiringly
From this reading She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading She stood on the dark platform snuffing the rich air.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
in or at that place or location
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
create by training and teaching
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
at the time that
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The moist air was rich with the smell of trees--wet bark and branches--moss and lichen, damp dead leaves.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading When Miriam got out of the train into the darkness she knew that there were woods all about her.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Anything that might follow would be unreal compared to that moment.
Chapter 1 of Honeycomb by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson holds 288 sentences, grouped into 58 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 288 sentences of Honeycomb, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Honeycomb by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 288 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 Honeycomb by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2948 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56664 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56664, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 245 minutes of reading across 590 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Honeycomb section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Honeycomb 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 Honeycomb, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
