Chapter 14 of Sandburrs is here in full — 11 sentences across 3 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Sandburrs is here in full — 11 sentences across 3 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DARLING, I fear that man! The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.” It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke. She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration. “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
Chapter 14 of Sandburrs is here in full — 11 sentences across 3 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/2 · 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 person with fair skin and hair
From this reading “She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.”
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading “She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.”
to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away
From this reading ““Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.””
arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
From this reading “She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.”
British actor (born in Ireland in 1932)
From this reading “It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.”
an artist who paints
From this reading “She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.”
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading ““Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.””
an official at a baseball game
From this reading “The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.””
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 ““Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.””
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 She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
spiritual being attendant upon God
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
a person with fair skin and hair
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
a special loved one
From this reading DARLING, I fear that man!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading DARLING, I fear that man!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
an informal term for a youth or man
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading DARLING, I fear that man!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading DARLING, I fear that man!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
British actor (born in Ireland in 1932)
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
an artist who paints
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
moving very fast
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
carry out
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading DARLING, I fear that man!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “Take courage, love!” said Marty O'Malley tenderly; “I'm too swift for the duck.”
an official at a baseball game
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
which person or people
From this reading It was Gwendolin O'Toole who spoke.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading She was a beautiful blonde angel, and as she clung to her lover, Marty O'Malley, they were a picture from which a painter would have drawn an inspiration.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The cruel guy can from his place as umpire do you up.”
Chapter 14 of Sandburrs by Alfred Henry Lewis holds 11 sentences, grouped into 3 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 14 holds 11 sentences of Sandburrs, unabridged, divided into 3 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Sandburrs by Alfred Henry Lewis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 11 sentences, grouped into 3 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 3 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 3 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 14 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.
