Chapter 24 of Irish Fairy Tales is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of Irish Fairy Tales is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“What do you see?” Fionn demanded of the watcher. “Nothing,” that man replied. “Look again,” said Fionn. The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
Chapter 24 of Irish Fairy Tales is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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 “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading “Fionn demanded of the watcher.”
not capable of movement or of being moved
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
held up in the air
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
From this reading “Fionn demanded of the watcher.”
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading “The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.”
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 eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
anew
From this reading “Look again,” said Fionn.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading Fionn demanded of the watcher.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “What do you see?”
capable of seeing to a great distance
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fionn demanded of the watcher.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
not capable of movement or of being moved
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
the quality of being intent and concentrated
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
held up in the air
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading “Look again,” said Fionn.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “Nothing,” that man replied.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading “Nothing,” that man replied.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Fionn demanded of the watcher.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “Nothing,” that man replied.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Look again,” said Fionn.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “What do you see?”
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Nothing,” that man replied.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Fionn demanded of the watcher.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
From this reading Fionn demanded of the watcher.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What do you see?”
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The eagle-eyed man lifted a face, thin and sharp as though it had been carven on the wind, and he stared forward with an immobile intentness.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “What do you see?”
Chapter 24 of Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens holds 77 sentences, grouped into 16 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.
Chapter 24 holds 77 sentences of Irish Fairy Tales, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 77 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 24 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 Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3329 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2892 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2892, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 277 minutes of reading across 666 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Irish Fairy Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Irish Fairy Tales 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 Irish Fairy Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
