Chapter 1 of Rattle of bones is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Rattle of bones is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Landlord, ho!" The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing. "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth." Two men stood in front of the forest tavern. The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
Chapter 1 of Rattle of bones is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
(of sounds) repeating by reflection
From this reading “The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.”
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
From this reading “"This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."”
plural of “log” — a segment of the trunk of a tree when stripped of branches
From this reading “The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.”
darkened by clouds
From this reading “The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.”
spreading out in different directions or distributed irregularly
From this reading “The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.”
past form of “reverberate” — ring or echo with sound
From this reading “The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.”
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading “The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.”
a building with a bar that is licensed to sell alcoholic drinks
From this reading “Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.”
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 men stood in front of the forest tavern.”
at or in the front
In this reading “Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.”
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 "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
a distinct feature or element in a problem
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
lacking funds
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
(of sounds) repeating by reflection
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
an old form of “has”
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs together with yttrium; forms highly magnetic compounds
From this reading "Landlord, ho!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
a landowner who leases to others
From this reading "Landlord, ho!"
plural of “log” — a segment of the trunk of a tree when stripped of branches
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
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 The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
darkened by clouds
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
the force of workers available
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
spreading out in different directions or distributed irregularly
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
past form of “reverberate” — ring or echo with sound
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
utter in a loud voice; talk in a loud voice (usually denoting characteristic manner of speaking)
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
a building with a bar that is licensed to sell alcoholic drinks
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "This place hath a forbidding aspect, meseemeth."
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two men stood in front of the forest tavern.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The building was low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The shout broke the lowering silence and reverberated through the black forest with sinister echoing.
Chapter 1 of Rattle of bones by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard holds 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 184 sentences of Rattle of bones, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Rattle of bones by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 Rattle of bones by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard 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 Rattle of bones section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Rattle of bones 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 Rattle of bones, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
