Chapter 4 of The Dark Fleece is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Dark Fleece is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!” Pretense, he realized, would be no good now. “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately. “Really,” she told him sharply. “I could be cross very easily.
Chapter 4 of The Dark Fleece is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 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.
recognized or made known or admitted
From this reading ““Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.”
travel across or pass over
From this reading ““I could be cross very easily.”
with great urgency
From this reading ““Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.”
(Greek mythology) the husband of Medea and leader of the Argonauts who sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece
From this reading ““Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!””
come to pass
From this reading ““Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.”
the act of giving a false appearance
From this reading “Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.”
successfully completed or brought to an end
From this reading “Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.”
in an aggressive manner
From this reading ““Really,” she told him sharply.”
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.
recognized or made known or admitted
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading “I could be cross very easily.
travel across or pass over
From this reading “I could be cross very easily.
with great urgency
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
with ease (“easy” is sometimes used informally for “easily”)
From this reading “I could be cross very easily.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Really,” she told him sharply.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
(Greek mythology) the husband of Medea and leader of the Argonauts who sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
joined in matrimony
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
not any; not one
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
come to pass
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
the act of giving a false appearance
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
successfully completed or brought to an end
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading “Really,” she told him sharply.
in an aggressive manner
From this reading “Really,” she told him sharply.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Really,” she told him sharply.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading “Really,” she told him sharply.
precisely as stated
From this reading “I could be cross very easily.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
Chapter 4 of The Dark Fleece by Joseph Hergesheimer holds 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 4 holds 401 sentences of The Dark Fleece, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Dark Fleece by Joseph Hergesheimer exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 4 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 Dark Fleece by Joseph Hergesheimer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1599 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51928 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51928, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 133 minutes of reading across 320 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dark Fleece section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Dark Fleece 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 Dark Fleece, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
