Chapter 2 of The Darrow Enigma is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Darrow Enigma is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery. The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen: “Your father is dead.” I could not speak. In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
Chapter 2 of The Darrow Enigma is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
From this reading “In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.”
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading “The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:”
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading “In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.”
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.”
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading “Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.”
a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder
From this reading “The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:”
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading “The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:”
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading “Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.”
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.
a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading I could not speak.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading “Your father is dead.”
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “Your father is dead.”
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I could not speak.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
engage in
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I could not speak.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
and nothing more
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
the state of being present; current existence
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
express in speech
From this reading I could not speak.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Silence is the only tender Death can make to Mystery.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The look of pain and astonishment upon my face said plainly enough to Gwen:
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
in the company of; together with
From this reading In the presence of her great affliction we all stood silent, and with bowed heads.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Your father is dead.”
Chapter 2 of The Darrow Enigma by Melvin L. (Melvin Linwood) Severy holds 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 67 sentences of The Darrow Enigma, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Darrow Enigma by Melvin L. (Melvin Linwood) Severy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 Darrow Enigma by Melvin L. (Melvin Linwood) Severy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3645 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1955 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1955, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 303 minutes of reading across 729 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Darrow Enigma section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The Darrow Enigma 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 Darrow Enigma, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
