Chapter 12 of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square. The people had returned from their work. The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate. The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle. The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
Chapter 12 of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading “The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.”
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading “The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.”
a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans
From this reading “The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.”
at the same time but in another place
From this reading “Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.”
plural of “peak” — the most extreme possible amount or value
From this reading “The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.”
marked by the presence of snow
From this reading “The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.”
a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters
From this reading “Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.”
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 The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
plural of “cloud” — any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
remove the dust from
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The people had returned from their work.
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
not accessible to view
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
at the same time but in another place
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The herd lowed as in clouds of golden dust it crowded at the village gate.
plural of “peak” — the most extreme possible amount or value
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading The people had returned from their work.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading The people had returned from their work.
marked by the presence of snow
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
make square
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
plural of “street” — a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The sun had quite hidden itself behind the distant snowy peaks.
a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The people had returned from their work.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading Meanwhile the tattoo had sounded in the village square.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The people had returned from their work.
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading The girls and the women hurried through the streets and yards, turning in their cattle.
Chapter 12 of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 by Leo, graf Tolstoy holds 204 sentences, grouped into 41 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 204 sentences of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 by Leo, graf Tolstoy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 by Leo, graf Tolstoy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4174 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4761 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4761, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 347 minutes of reading across 835 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Cossacks: A Tale of 1852 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 Cossacks: A Tale of 1852, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
