Chapter 2 of The Devil's Asteroid is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Devil's Asteroid is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Look like mouth of world," he hazarded. "Dark. Maybe world hungry--eat us." "Maybe," agreed Parr. The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
Chapter 2 of The Devil's Asteroid is here in full — 463 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/92 · 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.
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
From this reading “The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.”
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading “Maybe world hungry--eat us."”
informal terms for the mouth
From this reading “The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.”
by chance
From this reading “Maybe world hungry--eat us."”
Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (1512-1548)
From this reading “"Maybe," agreed Parr.”
A large hole in the ground, or an abyss of darkness and peril.
From this reading “The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.”
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading “The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.”
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading “The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.”
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 The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
united by being of the same opinion
From this reading "Maybe," agreed Parr.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading "Dark.
take in solid food
From this reading Maybe world hungry--eat us."
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
ten 10s
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading Maybe world hungry--eat us."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
informal terms for the mouth
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
by chance
From this reading Maybe world hungry--eat us."
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (1512-1548)
From this reading "Maybe," agreed Parr.
A large hole in the ground, or an abyss of darkness and peril.
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Maybe world hungry--eat us."
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading "Look like mouth of world," he hazarded.
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading The pit, about a hundred yards across and full of shadow, looked forbidding enough to be a savage maw.
Chapter 2 of The Devil's Asteroid by Manly Wade Wellman holds 463 sentences, grouped into 93 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 463 sentences of The Devil's Asteroid, unabridged, divided into 93 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Devil's Asteroid by Manly Wade Wellman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 463 sentences, grouped into 93 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 93 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 93 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 Devil's Asteroid by Manly Wade Wellman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 932 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22538 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22538, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 77 minutes of reading across 187 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Devil's Asteroid section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Devil's Asteroid 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 Devil's Asteroid, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
