Chapter 2 of The Disentanglers is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Disentanglers is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face. 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton. 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl. 'Why have you asked us, me at least?' 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
Chapter 2 of The Disentanglers is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
used as intensifiers
From this reading “'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.”
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading “Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.”
inflected form of “drink” — take in liquids
From this reading “Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.”
a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
From this reading “'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.”
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading “'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.”
United States religious and writer (1915-1968)
From this reading “'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.”
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading “'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.”
fermented juice (of grapes especially)
From this reading “Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.”
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 Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
used as intensifiers
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
in addition to; as well as
From this reading 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
inflected form of “drink” — take in liquids
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
a young female
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
(Roman mythology) supreme god of Romans; counterpart of Greek Zeus
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
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 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
United States religious and writer (1915-1968)
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
by chance
From this reading 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
a rational motive for a belief or action
From this reading 'Perhaps for many besides the obvious reason,' said Merton.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading 'By Jove, she's awfully handsome,' thought Merton.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
precisely as stated
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading 'Why have you asked us, me at least?'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
fermented juice (of grapes especially)
From this reading Miss Willoughby drank a little of the wine: the colour came into her face.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading 'It was very kind of you to ask me to this festival,' said the girl.
Chapter 2 of The Disentanglers by Andrew Lang holds 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 421 sentences of The Disentanglers, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Disentanglers by Andrew Lang exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 Disentanglers by Andrew Lang on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7308 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #17031 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #17031, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1462 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Disentanglers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Disentanglers 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 Disentanglers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
