Chapter 3 of The Jewels of Aptor is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Jewels of Aptor is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle. Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged. "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole." He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand. "Here, I'll take this one.
Chapter 3 of The Jewels of Aptor is here in full — 340 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/68 · 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 “bed” — a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading “He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.”
past form of “leak” — tell anonymously
From this reading “An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.”
past form of “pound” — hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument
From this reading “He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.”
possessive form of “ship” — a vessel that carries passengers or freight
From this reading “An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.”
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading “Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.”
a metallic tapping sound
From this reading “He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.”
plural of “tier” — a relative position or degree of value in a graded group
From this reading “He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.”
marked by wrinkles
From this reading “Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.”
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.
a lamp that burns oil (as kerosine) for light
In this reading “An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.”
In this reading “An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.”
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 "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
plural of “bed” — a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
living quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "Here, I'll take this one.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
an opening into or through something
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Here, I'll take this one.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
past form of “leak” — tell anonymously
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
A viscous liquid derived from petroleum or plants, stored in large earthen jars.
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
past form of “pound” — hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
possessive form of “ship” — a vessel that carries passengers or freight
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
carry out
From this reading "Here, I'll take this one.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
a metallic tapping sound
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
plural of “tier” — a relative position or degree of value in a graded group
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
plural of “wall” — an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well," said Urson, "this is a pleasant enough hole."
in the company of; together with
From this reading He climbed one of the tiers of bunked beds and pounded the ticking with the flat of his hand.
made or consisting of (entirely or in part) or employing wood
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
marked by wrinkles
From this reading Geo wrinkled his nose, then shrugged.
of the color intermediate between green and orange in the color spectrum; of something resembling the color of an egg yolk
From this reading An oil lamp leaked yellow light on the wooden walls of the ship's forecastle.
Chapter 3 of The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany holds 340 sentences, grouped into 68 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 3 holds 340 sentences of The Jewels of Aptor, unabridged, divided into 68 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 340 sentences, grouped into 68 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 68 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 68 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 3 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 Jewels of Aptor by Samuel R. Delany on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4541 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41981 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41981, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 378 minutes of reading across 909 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Jewels of Aptor section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Jewels of Aptor 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 Jewels of Aptor, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
