Chapter 2 of The Girl of the Golden West is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Girl of the Golden West is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips. "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done . And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
Chapter 2 of The Girl of the Golden West is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
placed in a grave
From this reading “And with these words he buried his face in his hands.”
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “"I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.”
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading “"I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .”
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading “"I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .”
your parents
From this reading “"I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .”
a relatively small granular particle of a substance
From this reading “"I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .”
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading “"I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .”
not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune
From this reading “"I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.”
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.
anew
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
placed in a grave
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
your parents
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
a relatively small granular particle of a substance
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
happening unexpectedly
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
depleted of strength or energy
From this reading "I'm tired o' drillin' rocks; I want to be in the fields again; I want to see the grain growin'; I want the dirt in the furrows at home; I want old Pensylvanny; I want my folks; I'm done, boys, I'm done, I'm done .
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "I want to go home!" suddenly burst from the unfortunate man's lips.
in the company of; together with
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
the words that are spoken
From this reading And with these words he buried his face in his hands.
Chapter 2 of The Girl of the Golden West by David Belasco holds 434 sentences, grouped into 87 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 434 sentences of The Girl of the Golden West, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Girl of the Golden West by David Belasco exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 434 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 Girl of the Golden West by David Belasco on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4282 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16551 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16551, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 356 minutes of reading across 857 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Girl of the Golden West section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Girl of the Golden West 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 Girl of the Golden West, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
