Chapter 5 of Narcissus is here in full — 468 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Narcissus is here in full — 468 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
All those books! He had tormented himself trying to understand them. Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman. Childish. He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
Chapter 5 of Narcissus is here in full — 468 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/93 · 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.
inflected form of “abhor” — find repugnant
From this reading “He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.”
indicating a lack of maturity
From this reading “Childish.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
From this reading “He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.”
inflected form of “hide” — prevent from being seen or discovered
From this reading “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed
From this reading “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
completely unclothed
From this reading “He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.”
experiencing intense pain especially mental pain
From this reading “He had tormented himself trying to understand them.”
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 “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
In this reading “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
In this reading “Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.”
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.
inflected form of “abhor” — find repugnant
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
in the past
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
(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 All those books!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading All those books!
indicating a lack of maturity
From this reading Childish.
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
inflected form of “hide” — prevent from being seen or discovered
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
completely unclothed
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
exaggerated and arrogant properness
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading All those books!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
experiencing intense pain especially mental pain
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
hard to endure
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading He had tormented himself trying to understand them.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He abhorred the picture of the naked woman as he abhorred his Aunt with her filthy priggishness.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
a late time of life
From this reading Two years ago he hid under the mattress the picture of the fat woman.
Chapter 5 of Narcissus by Evelyn Scott holds 468 sentences, grouped into 94 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 5 holds 468 sentences of Narcissus, unabridged, divided into 94 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Narcissus by Evelyn Scott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 468 sentences, grouped into 94 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 94 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 94 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 5 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 Narcissus by Evelyn Scott 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 Narcissus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Narcissus 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 Narcissus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
