Chapter 1 of The Eternal Boy is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Boy is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC. "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p. 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts." 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy." 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Boy is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
-ing form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading “12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."”
plural of “feast” — a ceremonial dinner party for many people
From this reading “123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."”
plural of “gent” — informal abbreviation of “gentleman”
From this reading “"'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.”
past form of “guarantee” — give surety or assume responsibility
From this reading “"'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.”
a small inflamed elevation of the skin; a pustule or papule; common symptom in acne
From this reading “123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."”
street names for gamma hydroxybutyrate
From this reading “AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.”
a young pig
From this reading “12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."”
a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
From this reading “12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."”
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 “62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."”
In this reading “12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."”
In this reading “62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."”
simultaneously
In this reading “12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
(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 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
-ing form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
past form of “descend” — move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
a quad with a square body
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.
plural of “feast” — a ceremonial dinner party for many people
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
an ornamental facade
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
plural of “gent” — informal abbreviation of “gentleman”
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
past form of “guarantee” — give surety or assume responsibility
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
a small inflamed elevation of the skin; a pustule or papule; common symptom in acne
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
street names for gamma hydroxybutyrate
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
not one thing; not anything
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AUTHOR OF "MAX FARGUS," ETC.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
being a member of or formed into a labor union
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
a young pig
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "'Nothing but a "suveneer," gents, nothing guaranteed.'" (p.
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
a formal word for “on”
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
at the time that
From this reading 12 "'I'll stop when it's time,' said Smeed; 'bring 'em on now, one at a time.'" 50 "A stinging hand descended upon the crouching Piggy."
which person or people
From this reading 123) _Frontispiece_ "Hickey it was ... who ... organised the midnight feasts."
in the company of; together with
From this reading 62 "All day long he walked with drawn sword."
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 1 holds 416 sentences of The Eternal Boy, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 1 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 Eternal Boy by Owen Johnson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4065 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46892 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46892, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 338 minutes of reading across 813 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Eternal Boy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Eternal Boy 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 Eternal Boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
