Chapter 5 of Plays of Near & Far is here in full — 467 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 Plays of Near & Far is here in full — 467 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[SLADDER _ages in his chair. You would say he was beaten. Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they? They would beat Sladder. No, that has yet to be done.
Chapter 5 of Plays of Near & Far is here in full — 467 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.
plural of “age” — how long something has existed
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
formed or made thin by hammering
From this reading “You would say he was beaten.”
closed or squeezed together tightly
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
plural of “muscle” — one of the contractile organs of the body
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
successive (without a break)
From this reading “Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?”
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.
plural of “age” — how long something has existed
From this reading [SLADDER _ages in his chair.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
formed or made thin by hammering
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading [SLADDER _ages in his chair.
closed or squeezed together tightly
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading [SLADDER _ages in his chair.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading [SLADDER _ages in his chair.
plural of “muscle” — one of the contractile organs of the body
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
not any; not one
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
express in words
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [SLADDER _ages in his chair.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
successive (without a break)
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Suddenly he tautens up his muscles and stands up straight with shoulders back and clenched hands._ So they would beat Sladder, would they?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
but in spite of that
From this reading No, that has yet to be done.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You would say he was beaten.
Chapter 5 of Plays of Near & Far by Lord Dunsany holds 467 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 467 sentences of Plays of Near & Far, unabridged, divided into 94 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Plays of Near & Far by Lord Dunsany exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 467 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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How to work through Plays of Near & Far section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Plays of Near & Far, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
