Chapter 1 of Nothing is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Nothing is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him. "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all." He nodded and sat down on the hard stone. We were trapped under the building. The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
Chapter 1 of Nothing is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
From this reading “The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.”
an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions
From this reading “The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.”
a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading “We were trapped under the building.”
owning or consisting of land or real estate
From this reading “The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.”
an insignificant place
From this reading “"This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.”
forced to turn and face attackers
From this reading “We were trapped under the building.”
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 “The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.”
In this reading “The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.”
In this reading “He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.”
In this reading “The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.”
In this reading “The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.”
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.
(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 "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading We were trapped under the building.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
owning or consisting of land or real estate
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
an insignificant place
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
above and across; more than
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
past form of “remark” — make mention of
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading He nodded and sat down on the hard stone.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
forced to turn and face attackers
From this reading We were trapped under the building.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading We were trapped under the building.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "This is getting us nowhere," I remarked, "nowhere at all."
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We were trapped under the building.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading We were trapped under the building.
at the time that
From this reading The house had come down over us when the bomb landed in the street.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The little man with the gray beard stared at me and I stared back at him.
Chapter 1 of Nothing by Donald A. Wollheim holds 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 1 holds 115 sentences of Nothing, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Nothing by Donald A. Wollheim exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 1 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 Nothing by Donald A. Wollheim 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 Nothing section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Nothing 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 Nothing, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
