Chapter 9 of The Black Dog, and Other Stories is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Black Dog, and Other Stories is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“It is the wind’s way among the roses. It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver. Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.” Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go. “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
Chapter 9 of The Black Dog, and Other Stories is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 “ankle” — a gliding joint between the distal ends of the tibia and fibula and the proximal end of the talus
From this reading ““The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.”
plural of “harp” — 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 has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.”
strap the foreleg and hind leg together on each side (of a horse) in order to keep the legs on the same side moving in unison
From this reading ““The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.”
plural of “horn” — a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading “It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.”
a golf course that is built on sandy ground near a shore
From this reading ““The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.”
-ing form of “toss” — throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading “Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.””
plural of “trick” — a cunning or deceitful action or device
From this reading ““The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.”
possessive form of “wind” — air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
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 “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
anew
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
plural of “ankle” — a gliding joint between the distal ends of the tibia and fibula and the proximal end of the talus
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
plural of “boat” — a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
an alloy of copper and zinc
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
past form of “cause” — give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
firmly closed or secured
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
coins made of gold
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
plural of “harp” — 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 has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
strap the foreleg and hind leg together on each side (of a horse) in order to keep the legs on the same side moving in unison
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
plural of “horn” — a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
covered with beads or jewels or sequins
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
a golf course that is built on sandy ground near a shore
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
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 “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading It has horns of bright brass and quiet harps of silver.
not in physical motion
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
bound or secured closely
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
-ing form of “toss” — throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading Its golden boats flash in every tossing bay.”
plural of “trick” — a cunning or deceitful action or device
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
possessive form of “wind” — air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading “It is the wind’s way among the roses.
in the company of; together with
From this reading “The fox has many tricks, the cat but one,” he said, and caused her ankles to be fastened with two jewelled links tied with a hopple of gold.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Cumac laughed again, but still he would not let her go.
Chapter 9 of The Black Dog, and Other Stories by A. E. (Alfred Edgar) Coppard holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 9 holds 415 sentences of The Black Dog, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Black Dog, and Other Stories by A. E. (Alfred Edgar) Coppard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 9 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 Dog, and Other Stories by A. E. (Alfred Edgar) Coppard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4452 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61016 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61016, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 371 minutes of reading across 891 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Dog, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Black Dog, and Other Stories 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 Dog, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
