Chapter 12 of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thane was a constant onlooker. He looked hard and saw everything. “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence. “That’s the same every time. It’s back of that.
Chapter 12 of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 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.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading ““It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.”
the act of breaking something
From this reading ““It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.”
unvarying in nature
From this reading “Thane was a constant onlooker.”
all things; all of a situation
From this reading “He looked hard and saw everything.”
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading “He looked hard and saw everything.”
someone who looks on
From this reading “Thane was a constant onlooker.”
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading ““It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.”
a feudal lord or baron
From this reading “Thane was a constant onlooker.”
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 ““It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.”
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 Thane was a constant onlooker.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading It’s back of that.
the act of breaking something
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
unvarying in nature
From this reading Thane was a constant onlooker.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading “That’s the same every time.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s back of that.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It’s back of that.
someone who looks on
From this reading Thane was a constant onlooker.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
Identical; not different.
From this reading “That’s the same every time.
cut with a saw
From this reading He looked hard and saw everything.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
a feudal lord or baron
From this reading Thane was a constant onlooker.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It’s back of that.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s the same every time.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “That’s the same every time.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “That’s the same every time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Thane was a constant onlooker.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “It ain’t what you do to it afterward,” he said, breaking a long silence.
Chapter 12 of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel by Garet Garrett holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 12 holds 419 sentences of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel by Garet Garrett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 12 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 Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel by Garet Garrett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7136 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60593 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60593, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 594 minutes of reading across 1428 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel 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 Cinder Buggy: A Fable in Iron and Steel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
