Chapter 5 of Red Nails is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Red Nails is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_6. The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria. "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?" She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages. Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
Chapter 5 of Red Nails is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading “The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.”
plural of “bandage” — a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading “The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.”
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
From this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
From this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
the chair of state for a monarch, bishop, etc.
From this reading “"Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"”
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 “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
In this reading “She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.”
In this reading “"Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"”
In this reading “Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.”
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 _6.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
plural of “bandage” — a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
next to; at the side of
From this reading Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
confined by bonds
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
and nothing more
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
staying power
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
the chair of state for a monarch, bishop, etc.
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Valeria's red-stained sword lay on the couch beside her.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Couldn't you have done it just as well in the throne room?"
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
people who are wounded
From this reading She sat on a couch with her wounded leg extended upon it, and the Tecuhltli woman had just bound it with silk bandages.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The Eyes of Tascela_ "Why did you bring me into this chamber to bandage my legs?" demanded Valeria.
Chapter 5 of Red Nails by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 419 sentences of Red Nails, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Red Nails by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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.
Common questions about reading Red Nails by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2116 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32759 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32759, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 176 minutes of reading across 424 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Red Nails section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Red Nails 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 Red Nails, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
