Chapter 3 of Much Darker Days is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Much Darker Days is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties. I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat. Can duties clash? They can. They did!
Chapter 3 of Much Darker Days is here in full — 48 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
take exception to
From this reading “I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.”
coldness due to a cold environment
From this reading “NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.”
A violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading “Can duties clash?”
an engagement fought between two military forces
From this reading “I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.”
plural of “duty” — the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading “NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.”
subject to death
From this reading “I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.”
past form of “remind” — put in the mind of someone
From this reading “NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.”
possessive form of “thompson” — United States classical archaeologist (born in Canada) noted for leading the excavation of the Athenian agora (1906-2000)
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 I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
in addition
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Can duties clash?
take exception to
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
coldness due to a cold environment
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
A violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading Can duties clash?
an engagement fought between two military forces
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading They did!
plural of “duty” — the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
be suspended or hanging
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
subject to death
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
above and across; more than
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
past form of “remind” — put in the mind of someone
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
term of address for a man
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They can.
possessive form of “thompson” — United States classical archaeologist (born in Canada) noted for leading the excavation of the Athenian agora (1906-2000)
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
up to a particular time
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading NEXT morning came, chill and grey, and reminded me that I had two duties.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was to wait at home till Philippa came over from Mrs. Thompson’s, and I was also to hang about the road from the station, and challenge Sir Runan to mortal combat.
Chapter 3 of Much Darker Days by Andrew Lang holds 48 sentences, grouped into 10 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 3 holds 48 sentences of Much Darker Days, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Much Darker Days by Andrew Lang exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 48 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 3 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 Much Darker Days by Andrew Lang on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Much Darker Days section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Much Darker Days 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 Much Darker Days, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
