Chapter 23 of The defender is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The defender is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life. Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea. Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself. He was tortured with doubts. What was a man of his age to say to her?
Chapter 23 of The defender is here in full — 56 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/11 · 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.
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense
From this reading “Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.”
how long something has existed
From this reading “What was a man of his age to say to her?”
plural of “doubt” — the state of being unsure of something
From this reading “He was tortured with doubts.”
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading “Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.”
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.”
have in common
From this reading “Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.”
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.”
experiencing intense pain especially mental pain
From this reading “He was tortured with doubts.”
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 “Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.”
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 Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
how long something has existed
From this reading What was a man of his age to say to her?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
plural of “doubt” — the state of being unsure of something
From this reading He was tortured with doubts.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading What was a man of his age to say to her?
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading What was a man of his age to say to her?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
express in words
From this reading What was a man of his age to say to her?
have in common
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
experiencing intense pain especially mental pain
From this reading He was tortured with doubts.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
precisely as stated
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What was a man of his age to say to her?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Now here he was on his way to her, his mind filled with this very idea.
a late time of life
From this reading Turgen had known Marfa as a friend for many years, but it had never entered his head to suggest that she and her children share his life.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yet the nearer he came to her yurta the more absurd he appeared to himself.
Chapter 23 of The defender by Nicholas Kalashnikoff holds 56 sentences, grouped into 12 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 23 holds 56 sentences of The defender, unabridged, divided into 12 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The defender by Nicholas Kalashnikoff exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 56 sentences, grouped into 12 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 12 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 12 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 23 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The defender section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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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 defender, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
