Chapter 2 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank. In the river there were many Crocodiles. A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me. I want the heart of a Monkey to eat." "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
Chapter 2 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading “"How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.”
large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters
From this reading “A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.”
plural of “crocodile” — large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters
From this reading “In the river there were many Crocodiles.”
take in solid food
From this reading “I want the heart of a Monkey to eat."”
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
plural of “monkey” — any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading “A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.”
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading “A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.”
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 “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
a prolonged period of time
In this reading “A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.”
live in the house where one works
In this reading “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
In this reading “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
In this reading “A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.”
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 A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
plural of “crocodile” — large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters
From this reading In the river there were many Crocodiles.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
take in solid food
From this reading I want the heart of a Monkey to eat."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading I want the heart of a Monkey to eat."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I want the heart of a Monkey to eat."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "How am I to catch a Monkey?" asked the little Crocodile.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading In the river there were many Crocodiles.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
plural of “monkey” — any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
a male human offspring
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading In the river there were many Crocodiles.
in or at that place or location
From this reading In the river there were many Crocodiles.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading A monkey lived in a great tree on a river bank.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading I want the heart of a Monkey to eat."
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading A Crocodile watched the Monkeys for a long time, and one day she said to her son: "My son, get one of those Monkeys for me.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading In the river there were many Crocodiles.
Chapter 2 of Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt holds 44 sentences, grouped into 9 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 44 sentences of Jataka Tales, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 44 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 816 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62514 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62514, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 68 minutes of reading across 164 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Jataka Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Jataka 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 Jataka Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
