Chapter 34 of The Bird in the Box is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter 34 of The Bird in the Box is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly. In her case it's a little natural exhaustion. As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid. She rescued this one, I understand. Well, she paid the price.
Chapter 34 of The Bird in the Box is here in full — 133 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
third-person singular of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading “LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.”
third-person singular of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading “LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.”
move deeply
From this reading “LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.”
extreme fatigue
From this reading “In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.”
United States playwright who collaborated with George S. Kaufman (1904-1961)
From this reading “As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.”
delivered from danger
From this reading “She rescued this one, I understand.”
-ing form of “rest” — not move; be in a resting position
From this reading “LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.”
the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
From this reading “As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.”
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.
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 In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
third-person singular of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
an occurrence of something
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
third-person singular of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
a state in which all hope is lost or absent
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
move deeply
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
extreme fatigue
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
United States playwright who collaborated with George S. Kaufman (1904-1961)
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading She rescued this one, I understand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature
From this reading In her case it's a little natural exhaustion.
not any; not one
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading She rescued this one, I understand.
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading Well, she paid the price.
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading Well, she paid the price.
with low volume
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
delivered from danger
From this reading She rescued this one, I understand.
-ing form of “rest” — not move; be in a resting position
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As for Mrs. Hart--the spine, I'm afraid.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading She rescued this one, I understand.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading She rescued this one, I understand.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading LOVE CONFRONTS DESPAIR "No, we might disturb her, and she appears to be resting quietly.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, she paid the price.
Chapter 34 of The Bird in the Box by Mary M. (Mary Martha) Mears holds 133 sentences, grouped into 27 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 34 holds 133 sentences of The Bird in the Box, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 34 of The Bird in the Box by Mary M. (Mary Martha) Mears exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 133 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 34 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 Bird in the Box by Mary M. (Mary Martha) Mears on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5304 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55816 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55816, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 442 minutes of reading across 1061 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Bird in the Box section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Bird in the Box 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 Bird in the Box, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
