Chapter 8 of Sard Harker: A novel is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Sard Harker: A novel is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sard sat up and tried his left leg. It was numb and much swollen. He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe. It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton. When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
Chapter 8 of Sard Harker: A novel is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
From this reading “It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.”
interchangeable with “means” in the expression “by means of”
From this reading “When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.”
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 “Sard sat up and tried his left leg.”
meat from a mature domestic sheep
From this reading “It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.”
lacking sensation
From this reading “It was numb and much swollen.”
the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure
From this reading “When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.”
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading “It was numb and much swollen.”
one of the digits of the foot
From this reading “He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.”
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 “Sard sat up and tried his left leg.”
In this reading “It was numb and much swollen.”
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 It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
any thing at all
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
interchangeable with “means” in the expression “by means of”
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
the soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate: mainly muscle tissue and fat
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was numb and much swollen.
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 Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
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 Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading It was numb and much swollen.
meat from a mature domestic sheep
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
lacking sensation
From this reading It was numb and much swollen.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading It had become as dead as a leg of clay or mutton.
the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
a deep orange-red variety of chalcedony
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading It was numb and much swollen.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
one of the digits of the foot
From this reading He could not feel anything in it from his mid-thigh to his toe.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Sard sat up and tried his left leg.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was numb and much swollen.
at the time that
From this reading When he dinted the flesh by pressing on it, the dint remained.
Chapter 8 of Sard Harker: A novel by John Masefield holds 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 8 holds 401 sentences of Sard Harker: A novel, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Sard Harker: A novel by John Masefield exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 8 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sard Harker: A novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Sard Harker: A novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
