Chapter 1 of The Land of the Changing Sun is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Land of the Changing Sun is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
My God, it was awful! It was as black as condensed midnight. I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone. Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare. I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
Chapter 1 of The Land of the Changing Sun is here in full — 150 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 7/30 · 5 reading units · Lines 31–35
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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading “My God, it was awful!”
past form of “condense” — undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops
From this reading “It was as black as condensed midnight.”
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading “I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.””
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “It was as black as condensed midnight.”
A terrifying or distressing dream.
From this reading “Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.”
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading “I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.””
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.””
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading “I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.”
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 Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
anew
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
Having no one else present.
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It was as black as condensed midnight.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading My God, it was awful!
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading It was as black as condensed midnight.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
past form of “condense” — undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops
From this reading It was as black as condensed midnight.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading My God, it was awful!
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
German physiologist and physicist (1821-1894)
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading My God, it was awful!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It was as black as condensed midnight.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My God, it was awful!
A terrifying or distressing dream.
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My God, it was awful!
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Then I went off again, but into a sort of nightmare.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I thought I was in Hell, and that you were with me, and that Professor Helmholtz was Satan.”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I felt your warm body against me and was glad I was not alone.
Chapter 1 of The Land of the Changing Sun by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben holds 150 sentences, grouped into 30 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 1 holds 150 sentences of The Land of the Changing Sun, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Land of the Changing Sun by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 150 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 1 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 Land of the Changing Sun by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2824 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3046 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3046, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 235 minutes of reading across 565 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Land of the Changing Sun section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Land of the Changing Sun 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 Land of the Changing Sun, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
