Chapter XL of The Coil of Carne, “"The Right One",” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter XL of The Coil of Carne, “"The Right One",” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise. "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager. "'Oo's varry low. 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word." "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Chapter XL of The Coil of Carne, “"The Right One",” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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 or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy
From this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
without question and beyond doubt
From this reading “"Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “"How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.”
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading “'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
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 “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “"Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.”
In this reading “A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.”
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 A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
anew
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
without question and beyond doubt
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
and nothing more
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading "'Oo's varry low.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "'Oo's varry low.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
express in speech
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
up to a particular time
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How is Mrs. Lee to-night, Mrs. Kenyon?" asked Eager.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "'Oo's varry low.
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
precisely as stated
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A woman from the village opened the door, and stared at Eager and Jim in vast surprise.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading 'Oo just lies an' nivver spakes a word."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Well now"--very emphatically--"I want you not to go in, or speak to her, till we come down again.
Chapter 40 of The Coil of Carne by John Oxenham holds 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 40 holds 114 sentences of The Coil of Carne, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of The Coil of Carne by John Oxenham exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 40 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 Coil of Carne by John Oxenham on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8368 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53819 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53819, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1674 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Coil of Carne section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Coil of Carne 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 Coil of Carne, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
