Chapter 18 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 448 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 448 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Heh! Heh! I should not be speaking of this. It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend. It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
Chapter 18 of The best short stories of 1917, and is here in full — 448 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/89 · 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 large, vast underground cave, often filled with forgotten ancient treasures.
From this reading “It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.”
flow in a circular current, of liquids
From this reading “It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.”
a cruel wicked and inhuman person
From this reading “It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.”
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading “It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.”
a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers
From this reading “It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.”
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading “It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.”
experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss
From this reading “It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.”
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading “I should not be speaking of this.”
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 was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
A large, vast underground cave, often filled with forgotten ancient treasures.
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
flow in a circular current, of liquids
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
a cruel wicked and inhuman person
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Heh!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I should not be speaking of this.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a sorrowful harp, the voice of that fiend.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading It was like the wind following the eddy into Lookout Cavern.
Chapter 18 of The best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien holds 448 sentences, grouped into 90 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 18 holds 448 sentences of The best short stories of 1917, and, unabridged, divided into 90 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 448 sentences, grouped into 90 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 90 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 90 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 18 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 The best short stories of 1917, and by Edward J. (Edward Joseph) [Editor] O'Brien on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 18263 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20872 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20872, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3653 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The best short stories of 1917, and section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The best short stories of 1917, and 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 The best short stories of 1917, and, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
