Chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts is here in full — 290 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts is here in full — 290 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Arbuthnot on Political Lying. Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods". The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones. Begin with the more Familiar and Credible. Sleep.
Chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts is here in full — 290 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
capable of being believed
From this reading “Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.”
plural of “falsehood” — a false statement
From this reading “Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".”
well known or easily recognized
From this reading “Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.”
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading “The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.”
a way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement (usually in steps)
From this reading “The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.”
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading “The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.”
involving or characteristic of politics or parties or politicians
From this reading “Arbuthnot on Political Lying.”
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading “The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Arbuthnot on Political Lying.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".
capable of being believed
From this reading Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.
plural of “falsehood” — a false statement
From this reading Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".
well known or easily recognized
From this reading Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading Arbuthnot on Political Lying.
a way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement (usually in steps)
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Begin with the more Familiar and Credible.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Arbuthnot on Political Lying.
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
involving or characteristic of politics or parties or politicians
From this reading Arbuthnot on Political Lying.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading Sleep.
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
severe; punishingly bad
From this reading Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".
disclosing unintentionally something concealed
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading The Opposite Method to be used in telling Ghost Stones.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Begin with "Great Swingeing Falsehoods".
Chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts by Andrew Lang holds 290 sentences, grouped into 58 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 1 holds 290 sentences of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts by Andrew Lang exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 290 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 1 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 Book of Dreams and Ghosts by Andrew Lang on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3796 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12621 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12621, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 316 minutes of reading across 760 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Book of Dreams and Ghosts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Book of Dreams and Ghosts 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 Book of Dreams and Ghosts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
