Chapter 2 of The Golden Slave is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Golden Slave is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky. Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri. Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood. He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone? Pain jagged through his skull.
Chapter 2 of The Golden Slave is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
past form of “bang” — strike violently
From this reading “The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.”
possessive form of “italy” — a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD
From this reading “Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.”
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading “Pain jagged through his skull.”
plural of “nostril” — either one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose
From this reading “Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.”
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading “Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.”
the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates
From this reading “Pain jagged through his skull.”
in a stupid manner
From this reading “He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?”
past form of “thunder” — move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading “The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.”
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 “Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.”
In this reading “Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.”
In this reading “Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.”
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 battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
past form of “bang” — strike violently
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.
destroyed or killed
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
possessive form of “italy” — a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading Pain jagged through his skull.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
plural of “nostril” — either one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder
From this reading Pain jagged through his skull.
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates
From this reading Pain jagged through his skull.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading Eodan slipped and fell in a pool of blood.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
in a stupid manner
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Pain jagged through his skull.
past form of “thunder” — move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Italy's earth rose up in anger and stopped the nostrils of the Cimbri.
in or at the place that
From this reading He looked stupidly at his hands, empty hands--where had his sword gone?
intensely zealous or fervid
From this reading The battle banged and thundered under a white-hot sky.
Chapter 2 of The Golden Slave by Poul Anderson holds 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 428 sentences of The Golden Slave, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Golden Slave by Poul Anderson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Golden Slave by Poul Anderson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5925 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59258 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59258, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 493 minutes of reading across 1185 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Golden Slave section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Golden Slave 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 Golden Slave, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
