Chapter 18 of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"And they carried guns?" "Little guns, firing high explosive shells. They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak. That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought. No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
Chapter 18 of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading “They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.”
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading “They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.”
serving to explode or characterized by explosion or sudden outburst
From this reading “"Little guns, firing high explosive shells.”
the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy
From this reading “"Little guns, firing high explosive shells.”
the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.”
inflected form of “ram” — strike or drive against with a heavy impact
From this reading “They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.”
plural of “shell” — ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
From this reading “"Little guns, firing high explosive shells.”
a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena
From this reading “That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.”
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 "And they carried guns?"
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
installation from which a military force initiates operations
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading "And they carried guns?"
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
indicating exactness or preciseness
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
serving to explode or characterized by explosion or sudden outburst
From this reading "Little guns, firing high explosive shells.
having lost your job
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy
From this reading "Little guns, firing high explosive shells.
inflected form of “fight” — be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
the act of departing
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading "And they carried guns?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
come to pass
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading "Little guns, firing high explosive shells.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Little guns, firing high explosive shells.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
not any; not one
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
inflected form of “ram” — strike or drive against with a heavy impact
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
plural of “shell” — ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
From this reading "Little guns, firing high explosive shells.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
express in speech
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
express in words
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "And they carried guns?"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading No one could tell exactly what was going to happen.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They fired the guns backwards, out of the base of the leaf, so to speak, and rammed with the beak.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading That was the theory, you know, but they had never been fought.
Chapter 18 of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 18 holds 400 sentences of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 18 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 Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9761 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11870 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11870, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1953 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories 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 Country of the Blind, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
