Chapter 2 of The Dragon in Shallow Waters is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Dragon in Shallow Waters is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience. “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that. That’s grand. That’s escape; true escape from a prison. The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
Chapter 2 of The Dragon in Shallow Waters is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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 gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading “He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.”
used as expletives
From this reading “The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.”
the act of grasping
From this reading “He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.”
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading ““Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.”
a preliminary introduction to a statute or constitution (usually explaining its purpose)
From this reading “He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.”
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading “That’s escape; true escape from a prison.”
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.”
the act of killing yourself
From this reading ““Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.”
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 “The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.”
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 That’s escape; true escape from a prison.
later than; following
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
(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 He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
used as expletives
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
the act of escaping physically
From this reading That’s escape; true escape from a prison.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading That’s escape; true escape from a prison.
brought together in one place
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading That’s grand.
the act of grasping
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
not any; not one
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
a preliminary introduction to a statute or constitution (usually explaining its purpose)
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading That’s escape; true escape from a prison.
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
the act of killing yourself
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That’s grand.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Suicide, now—there’s nobility in that.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading That’s escape; true escape from a prison.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He had paused after his preamble, gathered all his thoughts up into his grip, and began to deal them out to his audience.
which person or people
From this reading The man who doesn’t care a damn for his own life is no prisoner.
Chapter 2 of The Dragon in Shallow Waters by V. (Victoria) Sackville-West holds 439 sentences, grouped into 88 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 439 sentences of The Dragon in Shallow Waters, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Dragon in Shallow Waters by V. (Victoria) Sackville-West exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 439 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 Dragon in Shallow Waters by V. (Victoria) Sackville-West on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3104 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59806 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59806, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 258 minutes of reading across 621 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dragon in Shallow Waters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of The Dragon in Shallow Waters 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 Dragon in Shallow Waters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
