Chapter 4 of Lilith: A Romance is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Lilith: A Romance is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I followed him deep into the pine-forest. Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round. We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age. Then the forest grew thinner. “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
Chapter 4 of Lilith: A Romance is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 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.
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading ““You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.”
a state of partial or total darkness
From this reading “Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.”
distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
From this reading “We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.”
a spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus
From this reading ““You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.”
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading “We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.”
large or big relative to something else
From this reading “We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.”
-ing form of “point” — indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively
From this reading ““You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.”
a diluting agent
From this reading “Then the forest grew thinner.”
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.
how long something has existed
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading Then the forest grew thinner.
a state of partial or total darkness
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Then the forest grew thinner.
distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
someone employed to conduct others
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
a spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
large or big relative to something else
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
not one and not the other of two
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
-ing form of “point” — indicate a place, direction, person, or thing; either spatially or figuratively
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
concerned with religion or religious purposes
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I followed him deep into the pine-forest.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then the forest grew thinner.
a diluting agent
From this reading Then the forest grew thinner.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
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 We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
during the time that
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
in the company of; together with
From this reading We came to larger and yet larger trees--older, and more individual, some of them grotesque with age.
but in spite of that
From this reading Neither of us said much while yet the sacred gloom of it closed us round.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You see that hawthorn?” said my guide at length, pointing with his beak.
Chapter 4 of Lilith: A Romance by George MacDonald holds 70 sentences, grouped into 14 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 4 holds 70 sentences of Lilith: A Romance, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Lilith: A Romance by George MacDonald exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 70 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 4 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 Lilith: A Romance by George MacDonald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5702 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1640 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1640, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 475 minutes of reading across 1141 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Lilith: A Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Lilith: A Romance 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 Lilith: A Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
