Chapter 2 of The City of Comrades is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The City of Comrades is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry. I took a long swig of it. Two long swigs were enough. It burnt me, and yet it braced me. With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
Chapter 2 of The City of Comrades is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
positioned so as to be ready for confrontation or danger
From this reading “It burnt me, and yet it braced me.”
ruined by overcooking
From this reading “It burnt me, and yet it braced me.”
inflected form of “eat” — take in solid food
From this reading “With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.”
the work of cleaning and running a house
From this reading “Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.”
in a literal sense
From this reading “With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.”
with restored energy
From this reading “With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.”
dry to sweet amber wine from the Jerez region of southern Spain or similar wines produced elsewhere; usually drunk as an aperitif
From this reading “Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.”
a large and hurried swallow
From this reading “I took a long swig of it.”
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 I took a long swig of it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
positioned so as to be ready for confrontation or danger
From this reading It burnt me, and yet it braced me.
ruined by overcooking
From this reading It burnt me, and yet it braced me.
gotten under control
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
inflected form of “eat” — take in solid food
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading Two long swigs were enough.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
any creature of exceptional size
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
the work of cleaning and running a house
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
in a literal sense
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
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 I took a long swig of it.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
influenced or controlled by a powerful force such as a strong emotion
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
with restored energy
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
dry to sweet amber wine from the Jerez region of southern Spain or similar wines produced elsewhere; usually drunk as an aperitif
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
past form of “suggest” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
a large and hurried swallow
From this reading I took a long swig of it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two long swigs were enough.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading I took a long swig of it.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two long swigs were enough.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Smell told me that it contained sherry, and such knowledge of housekeeping as I possessed suggested that it was cooking-sherry.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Two long swigs were enough.
fermented juice (of grapes especially)
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With the food I had eaten I felt literally like a giant refreshed with wine.
but in spite of that
From this reading It burnt me, and yet it braced me.
Chapter 2 of The City of Comrades by Basil King holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 2 holds 409 sentences of The City of Comrades, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The City of Comrades by Basil King exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 City of Comrades by Basil King on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7357 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64255 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64255, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1472 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City of Comrades section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The City of Comrades 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 City of Comrades, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
