Chapter 4 of The black border is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The black border is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?” “Yes, a very severe drought.” “Berry well, suh. Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh? En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!
Chapter 4 of The black border is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
any of numerous small and pulpy edible fruits; used as desserts or in making jams and jellies and preserves
From this reading ““Berry well, suh.”
(Roman mythology) god of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Hades
From this reading ““Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?””
a shortage of rainfall
From this reading ““Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?””
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
From this reading ““Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?””
have ownership or possession of
From this reading “Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!”
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading ““Yes, a very severe drought.””
an affirmative
From this reading ““Yes, a very severe drought.””
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 “Yes, a very severe drought.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
any of numerous small and pulpy edible fruits; used as desserts or in making jams and jellies and preserves
From this reading “Berry well, suh.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!
(Roman mythology) god of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Hades
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
a shortage of rainfall
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
half the width of an em
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading En’, Maussuh, Dry Drought him haa’d-head’ ez de berry Satan!
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading “Yes, a very severe drought.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Berry well, suh.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
precisely as stated
From this reading “Yes, a very severe drought.”
(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 “Berry well, suh.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yaas, Maussuh, uh yeddy’um, but dis duh Dry Drought, enty?”
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes, a very severe drought.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Enty you know, Maussuh, suh Dry Drought duh him own maussuh, en’ him ent ’f’aid alligettuh?
Chapter 4 of The black border by Ambrose Elliott Gonzalez holds 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 4 holds 421 sentences of The black border, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The black border by Ambrose Elliott Gonzalez exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 4 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 black border by Ambrose Elliott Gonzalez on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4936 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71432 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71432, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 411 minutes of reading across 988 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The black border section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The black border 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 black border, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
