Chapter 1 of Plays of Gods and Men is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Plays of Gods and Men is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
What end? To whom is the end coming? Queen: Do not be troubled. We should not let Fate trouble us. The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
Chapter 1 of Plays of Gods and Men is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
plural of “care” — the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading “The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.”
every day; without missing a day
From this reading “The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.”
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading “We should not let Fate trouble us.”
provoking horror
From this reading “The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.”
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading “Queen: Do not be troubled.”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.”
a source of difficulty
From this reading “We should not let Fate trouble us.”
characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need
From this reading “Queen: Do not be troubled.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Queen: Do not be troubled.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
plural of “care” — the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading To whom is the end coming?
every day; without missing a day
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Queen: Do not be troubled.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading What end?
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
provoking horror
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading To whom is the end coming?
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Queen: Do not be troubled.
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading Queen: Do not be troubled.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading To whom is the end coming?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To whom is the end coming?
a source of difficulty
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need
From this reading Queen: Do not be troubled.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We should not let Fate trouble us.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What end?
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To whom is the end coming?
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate.
Chapter 1 of Plays of Gods and Men by Lord Dunsany holds 453 sentences, grouped into 91 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 453 sentences of Plays of Gods and Men, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Plays of Gods and Men by Lord Dunsany exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 453 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 Plays of Gods and Men by Lord Dunsany on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 933 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11283 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11283, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 77 minutes of reading across 187 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Plays of Gods and Men section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of Plays of Gods and Men 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 Plays of Gods and Men, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
