Chapter 5 of Tales of a Cruel Country is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Tales of a Cruel Country is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning. Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened. Not a sound. Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep. He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
Chapter 5 of Tales of a Cruel Country is here in full — 392 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation
From this reading “Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.”
stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading “Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.”
past form of “chuckle” — laugh quietly or with restraint
From this reading “He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.”
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness
From this reading “He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.”
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading “Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.”
afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
From this reading “He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.”
provided with artificial light
From this reading “Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.”
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 crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.”
In this reading “He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.”
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 Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
anew
From this reading He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
past form of “chuckle” — laugh quietly or with restraint
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
the sound of laughing
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
provided with artificial light
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
without a sound
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not a sound.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
a person, without saying who
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Not a sound.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading He crept along the passage, stopped and listened again.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Having turned out the electric light, he lit a candle, noiselessly opened the door, and listened.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He chuckled with insane laughter, and his eyes became deep with cunning.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes: breathing--the sound of someone breathing deeply in his sleep.
Chapter 5 of Tales of a Cruel Country by Gerald Cumberland holds 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 5 holds 392 sentences of Tales of a Cruel Country, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Tales of a Cruel Country by Gerald Cumberland exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 392 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 5 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 Tales of a Cruel Country by Gerald Cumberland on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4880 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60272 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60272, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 406 minutes of reading across 976 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tales of a Cruel Country section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Tales of a Cruel Country 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 Tales of a Cruel Country, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
