Chapter 2 of Salammbo is here in full — 366 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Salammbo is here in full — 366 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage. They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses: “You are the saviours of Carthage! But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent. Withdraw!
Chapter 2 of Salammbo is here in full — 366 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading “They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:”
plural of “caress” — a gentle affectionate stroking (or something resembling it)
From this reading “They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:”
an ancient city state on the north African coast near modern Tunis; founded by Phoenicians; destroyed and rebuilt by Romans; razed by Arabs in 697
From this reading “Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.”
someone who has insufficient assets to cover their debts
From this reading “But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.”
plural of “mercenary” — a person hired to fight for another country than their own
From this reading “Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.”
plural of “sort” — a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading “They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:”
be hungry; go without food
From this reading “But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.”
pull back or move away or backward
From this reading “Withdraw!”
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 They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “You are the saviours of Carthage!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
plural of “caress” — a gentle affectionate stroking (or something resembling it)
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
an ancient city state on the north African coast near modern Tunis; founded by Phoenicians; destroyed and rebuilt by Romans; razed by Arabs in 697
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
a state at a particular time
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
coins made of gold
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
someone who has insufficient assets to cover their debts
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
plural of “mercenary” — a person hired to fight for another country than their own
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
a separate part of a whole
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You are the saviours of Carthage!
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
plural of “sort” — a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
be hungry; go without food
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
in or at that place or location
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two days afterwards the Mercenaries left Carthage.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They had each received a piece of gold on the condition that they should go into camp at Sicca, and they had been told with all sorts of caresses:
pull back or move away or backward
From this reading Withdraw!
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading But you would starve it if you remained there; it would become insolvent.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You are the saviours of Carthage!
Chapter 2 of Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert holds 366 sentences, grouped into 74 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 2 holds 366 sentences of Salammbo, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 366 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 2 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 Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5242 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1290 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1290, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 436 minutes of reading across 1049 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Salammbo section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Salammbo 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 Salammbo, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
