Chapter 2 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 464 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 464 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
No, it is not a young one. It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be. It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it. It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch. That is why May calls it a rascal.
Chapter 2 of The Insect Folk is here in full — 464 sentences across 93 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/92 · 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.
plural of “call” — a telephone connection
From this reading “That is why May calls it a rascal.”
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading “It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.”
a short vivid experience
From this reading “It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.”
comparative of “hard” — with effort or force or vigor
From this reading “It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.”
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
From this reading “That is why May calls it a rascal.”
plural of “scale” — an ordered reference standard
From this reading “It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.”
causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
From this reading “It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.”
a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice
From this reading “It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.”
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 No, it is not a young one.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
later than; following
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
plural of “call” — a telephone connection
From this reading That is why May calls it a rascal.
discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
take in solid food
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
a short vivid experience
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
comparative of “hard” — with effort or force or vigor
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
plural of “love” — a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
engage in
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
not any; not one
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
From this reading That is why May calls it a rascal.
plural of “scale” — an ordered reference standard
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice
From this reading It goes flashing about like a little silver dart, and it loves to eat starch.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
precisely as stated
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading That is why May calls it a rascal.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading It never will have any wings, no matter how old it may get to be.
but in spite of that
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is flat, you see, and its scales make it very slippery, so that it is hard to catch and yet harder to hold on to after you have caught it.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading No, it is not a young one.
Chapter 2 of The Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley holds 464 sentences, grouped into 93 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 464 sentences of The Insect Folk, unabridged, divided into 93 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 464 sentences, grouped into 93 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 93 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 93 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 Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2690 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #18790 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #18790, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 224 minutes of reading across 538 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Insect Folk section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Insect Folk 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 Insect Folk, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
