Chapter 1 of Old Indian Legends is here in full — 236 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Old Indian Legends is here in full — 236 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ITKALA-SA. IKTOMI is a spider fairy. He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet. His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands. Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
Chapter 1 of Old Indian Legends is here in full — 236 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/47 · 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.
covered with beads of liquid
From this reading “He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.”
make by braiding or interlacing
From this reading “Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.”
leather from the hide of a deer
From this reading “He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.”
plural of “fringe” — the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading “He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.”
plural of “hang” — a special way of doing something
From this reading “Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.”
plural of “moccasin” — soft leather shoe; originally worn by Native Americans
From this reading “He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.”
predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
From this reading “IKTOMI is a spider fairy.”
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading “He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.”
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 IKTOMI is a spider fairy.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
plural of “band” — an unofficial association of people or groups
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
covered with beads of liquid
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
make by braiding or interlacing
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
leather from the hide of a deer
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
one or the other of two
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers
From this reading IKTOMI is a spider fairy.
the petals or sepals of a flower that bend downward (especially the outer perianth of an iris)
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
plural of “fringe” — the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
plural of “hang” — a special way of doing something
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IKTOMI is a spider fairy.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IKTOMI is a spider fairy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ITKALA-SA.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
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 He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
plural of “moccasin” — soft leather shoe; originally worn by Native Americans
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
above and across; more than
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
having a margin incised almost to the base so as to create distinct divisions or lobes
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
From this reading IKTOMI is a spider fairy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
very small
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet.
covered with or as if with clothes or a wrap or cloak
From this reading His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands.
Chapter 1 of Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa holds 236 sentences, grouped into 48 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 1 holds 236 sentences of Old Indian Legends, unabridged, divided into 48 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 236 sentences, grouped into 48 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 48 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 48 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 Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1426 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #338 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #338, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 118 minutes of reading across 286 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Indian Legends section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Old Indian Legends 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 Old Indian Legends, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
