Chapter 29 of Robert Falconer is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of Robert Falconer is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him. He stood on a shoal between. The life behind him was in its grave. He had covered it over and turned away. But he knew it would rise at night.
Chapter 29 of Robert Falconer is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading “A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.”
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading “He stood on a shoal between.”
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading “He had covered it over and turned away.”
a person who breeds and trains hawks and who follows the sport of falconry
From this reading “A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.”
death of a person
From this reading “The life behind him was in its grave.”
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.”
move upward
From this reading “But he knew it would rise at night.”
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading “A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.”
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 A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading He stood on a shoal between.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
a person who breeds and trains hawks and who follows the sport of falconry
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
death of a person
From this reading The life behind him was in its grave.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He stood on a shoal between.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The life behind him was in its grave.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The life behind him was in its grave.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He stood on a shoal between.
above and across; more than
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
move upward
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading A life lay behind Robert Falconer, and a life lay before him.
a sandbank in a stretch of water that is visible at low tide
From this reading He stood on a shoal between.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading He stood on a shoal between.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The life behind him was in its grave.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading He had covered it over and turned away.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The life behind him was in its grave.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading But he knew it would rise at night.
Chapter 29 of Robert Falconer by George MacDonald holds 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 29 holds 277 sentences of Robert Falconer, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of Robert Falconer by George MacDonald exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 29 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 Robert Falconer by George MacDonald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12433 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2561 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2561, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2487 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Robert Falconer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Robert Falconer 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 Robert Falconer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
