Chapter 26 of Sons and Fathers is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Sons and Fathers is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?" The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds. The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene. All was still in the glass-room. Virdow shook his head.
Chapter 26 of Sons and Fathers is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/64 · 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.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.”
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
plural of “perfume” — a distinctive odor that is pleasant
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
serving to bring to mind
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
a rester who is sleeping
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
the rays of the sun
From this reading “The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.”
relating to or designed for or using the singing voice
From this reading “The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.”
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.
advance stealthily or unnoticed
In this reading “The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.”
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 The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
(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 All was still in the glass-room.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
make overcast or cloudy
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading All was still in the glass-room.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Virdow shook his head.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Virdow shook his head.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading All was still in the glass-room.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
plural of “perfume” — a distinctive odor that is pleasant
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
serving to bring to mind
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
the place where some action occurs
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Virdow shook his head.
a rester who is sleeping
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
plural of “song” — a short musical composition with words
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
not in physical motion
From this reading All was still in the glass-room.
the rays of the sun
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
without emotional agitation
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The sunlight was gone, a deep-gray cloud having crept up to shadow the scene.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Virdow shook his head.
relating to or designed for or using the singing voice
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading "WHICH OF THE TWO WAS MY MOTHER?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading The sleeper lay tranquilly forgetful of the morning hours redolent of perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds.
Chapter 26 of Sons and Fathers by Harry Stillwell Edwards holds 324 sentences, grouped into 65 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 26 holds 324 sentences of Sons and Fathers, unabridged, divided into 65 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Sons and Fathers by Harry Stillwell Edwards exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 324 sentences, grouped into 65 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 65 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 65 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 26 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 Sons and Fathers by Harry Stillwell Edwards on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8769 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36112 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36112, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1754 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sons and Fathers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Sons and Fathers 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 Sons and Fathers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
