Chapter 2 of Sandburrs is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Sandburrs is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
François St. Cyr is a Frenchman. He is absent two years from La Belle France. He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square. They love each other like birds. Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.
Chapter 2 of Sandburrs is here in full — 26 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/5 · 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.
not being in a specified place
From this reading “He is absent two years from La Belle France.”
a young woman who is the most charming and beautiful of several rivals
From this reading “He is absent two years from La Belle France.”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “They love each other like birds.”
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading “He is absent two years from La Belle France.”
a person of French nationality
From this reading “François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.”
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading “Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.”
showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's advantages
From this reading “Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.”
the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca; George Washington commissioned Charles L'Enfant to lay out the city in 1791
From this reading “He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.”
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 “He is absent two years from La Belle France.”
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 François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
not being in a specified place
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
a young woman who is the most charming and beautiful of several rivals
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading They love each other like birds.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading They love each other like birds.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
a person of French nationality
From this reading François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's advantages
From this reading Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading They love each other like birds.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading They love each other like birds.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading They love each other like birds.
make square
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading François St. Cyr is a Frenchman.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They love each other like birds.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca; George Washington commissioned Charles L'Enfant to lay out the city in 1791
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading He and his little wife, Bebe, live not far from Washington Square.
a late time of life
From this reading He is absent two years from La Belle France.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet François St. Cyr is gay, and little Bebe is jealous.
Chapter 2 of Sandburrs by Alfred Henry Lewis holds 26 sentences, grouped into 6 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 2 holds 26 sentences of Sandburrs, unabridged, divided into 6 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Sandburrs by Alfred Henry Lewis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 26 sentences, grouped into 6 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 6 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 6 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 Sandburrs by Alfred Henry Lewis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5260 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51981 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51981, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 438 minutes of reading across 1052 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sandburrs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Sandburrs 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 Sandburrs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
