Chapter 1 of The Castaway is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Castaway is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Who was this bearded castaway of space? Some said he was Jonah. Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist. But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young. There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
Chapter 1 of The Castaway is here in full — 610 sentences across 122 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/122 · 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.
having hair on the cheeks and chin
From this reading “Who was this bearded castaway of space?”
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading “Who was this bearded castaway of space?”
arranged into classes
From this reading “There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.”
plural of “column” — a line of units following one after another
From this reading “There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.”
(Old Testament) Jonah did not wish to become a prophet so God caused a great storm to throw him overboard from a ship; he was saved by being swallowed by a whale that vomited him out onto dry land
From this reading “Some said he was Jonah.”
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading “Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.”
possessive form of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading “There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.”
a periodical that is published every week (or 52 issues per year)
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 Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
a public promotion of some product or service
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
having hair on the cheeks and chin
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
arranged into classes
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
plural of “column” — a line of units following one after another
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Some said he was Jonah.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
(Old Testament) Jonah did not wish to become a prophet so God caused a great storm to throw him overboard from a ship; he was saved by being swallowed by a whale that vomited him out onto dry land
From this reading Some said he was Jonah.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
a commissioned military officer
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
roused to anger
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Some said he was Jonah.
a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some said he was Jonah.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Others thought him a long-lost, mad scientist.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
possessive form of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
a periodical that is published every week (or 52 issues per year)
From this reading There was an ad in the classified columns of this week's _Spaceways Weekly_.
at the time that
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
which person or people
From this reading Who was this bearded castaway of space?
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading But Lieutenant Brait knew him by a name that was old when the world was young.
Chapter 1 of The Castaway by Nelson S. Bond holds 610 sentences, grouped into 122 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 610 sentences of The Castaway, unabridged, divided into 122 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Castaway by Nelson S. Bond exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 610 sentences, grouped into 122 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 122 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 122 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 Castaway by Nelson S. Bond on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 610 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61842 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61842, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 50 minutes of reading across 122 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Castaway section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Castaway 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 Castaway, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
