Chapter 21 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said. ‘We don’t want no navvies here. There’s too many about as it is. ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping. I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
Chapter 21 of The Black Diamond is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading “I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.”
the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
From this reading “’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.”
United States author who wrote the stories about Uncle Remus (1848-1908)
From this reading “‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.”
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading “’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.”
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
-ing form of “reap” — gather, as of natural products
From this reading “’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.”
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.”
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading “’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.”
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 “There’s too many about as it is.”
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 ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
From this reading ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
United States author who wrote the stories about Uncle Remus (1848-1908)
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading ‘We don’t want no navvies here.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘We don’t want no navvies here.
not any; not one
From this reading ‘We don’t want no navvies here.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
-ing form of “reap” — gather, as of natural products
From this reading ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading ’Tis a farming man’s job, reaping.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading There’s too many about as it is.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading ‘We don’t want no navvies here.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading ‘We don’t want no navvies here.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading ‘I don’t know what the place is coming to,’ Harris said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I reckon you’re one of Miss Marion’s fancies.
Chapter 21 of The Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 21 holds 404 sentences of The Black Diamond, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Black Diamond by Francis Brett Young exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 21 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 Diamond by Francis Brett Young on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10566 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48813 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48813, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2114 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Diamond section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Black Diamond 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 Diamond, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
