Chapter 2 of The Delectable Mountains is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Delectable Mountains is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I feel awful bad. The--the billows go over my head, Selah!” Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone. The Hermit lifted his face. It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
Chapter 2 of The Delectable Mountains is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading ““I feel awful bad.”
plural of “billow” — a large sea wave
From this reading “The--the billows go over my head, Selah!””
move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.”
(of a number) having a fixed and unchanging value
From this reading “It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.”
one retired from society for religious reasons
From this reading “The Hermit lifted his face.”
resulting from one's intentions
From this reading “It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.”
held up in the air
From this reading “The Hermit lifted his face.”
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading “Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.”
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 “It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.”
In this reading “Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.”
hold a review (of troops)
In this reading “The--the billows go over my head, Selah!””
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.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading “I feel awful bad.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading “I feel awful bad.
plural of “billow” — a large sea wave
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
opinion or judgment
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The Hermit lifted his face.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading “I feel awful bad.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
(of a number) having a fixed and unchanging value
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
one retired from society for religious reasons
From this reading The Hermit lifted his face.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The Hermit lifted his face.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I feel awful bad.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
resulting from one's intentions
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
held up in the air
From this reading The Hermit lifted his face.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
above and across; more than
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The--the billows go over my head, Selah!”
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
precisely as stated
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
a Caucasian
From this reading It was very white; his eyes were fixed and dead-looking, and he got his feet under him, as if he intended to creep forward.
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading Then she wished that she had let “Selah” quite alone.
Chapter 2 of The Delectable Mountains by Arthur Colton holds 456 sentences, grouped into 92 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 456 sentences of The Delectable Mountains, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Delectable Mountains by Arthur Colton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 456 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 Delectable Mountains by Arthur Colton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2749 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50270 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50270, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 229 minutes of reading across 550 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Delectable Mountains section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Delectable Mountains 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 Delectable Mountains, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
