Chapter 8 of The Hour of the Dragon is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Hour of the Dragon is here in full — 418 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness. 'Where is he now?' 'He sleeps in the house of Servio.' 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan. 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
Chapter 8 of The Hour of the Dragon is here in full — 418 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.
a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall
From this reading “'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.”
past form of “grunt” — issue a grunting, low, animal-like noise
From this reading “'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.”
act or move at high speed
From this reading “'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'”
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading “'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'”
repeated heavy blows
From this reading “'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.”
(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
From this reading “'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.”
plural of “sleep” — a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading “'He sleeps in the house of Servio.'”
the area of a city (such as a harbor or dockyard) alongside a body of water
From this reading “'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'”
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.
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 with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
a positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
past form of “grunt” — issue a grunting, low, animal-like noise
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
act or move at high speed
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 'Where is he now?'
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading 'He sleeps in the house of Servio.'
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 'Where is he now?'
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading 'Where is he now?'
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading 'He sleeps in the house of Servio.'
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
repeated heavy blows
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'He sleeps in the house of Servio.'
plural of “sleep” — a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading 'He sleeps in the house of Servio.'
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
plural of “temple” — place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading 'I know that dive of old,' grunted Conan.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
plural of “thief” — a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
the area of a city (such as a harbor or dockyard) alongside a body of water
From this reading 'I'd better hasten before some of these waterfront thieves cut his throat for the jewel.'
in or at the place that
From this reading 'Where is he now?'
in the company of; together with
From this reading 'It must be Beloso,' muttered Conan, feeling the pulse in his temples pounding with impatient eagerness.
Chapter 8 of The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard holds 418 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 8 holds 418 sentences of The Hour of the Dragon, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 418 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 8 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 Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4659 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42243 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42243, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 388 minutes of reading across 932 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Hour of the Dragon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Hour of the Dragon 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 Hour of the Dragon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
