Chapter 3 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded. All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting. How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut! And the silence—it was like a cloak. There was absolutely no sound.
Chapter 3 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “There was absolutely no sound.”
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “And the silence—it was like a cloak.”
psychological suffering
From this reading “All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.”
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading “All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.”
having lost freshness or brilliance of color
From this reading “This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.”
in a gradual manner
From this reading “This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.”
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading “This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.”
the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading “This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.”
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 And the silence—it was like a cloak.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading There was absolutely no sound.
anew
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading And the silence—it was like a cloak.
psychological suffering
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
aimless wandering from place to place
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
opinion or judgment
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
having lost freshness or brilliance of color
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
in a gradual manner
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading And the silence—it was like a cloak.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
not any; not one
From this reading There was absolutely no sound.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
above and across; more than
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
possession of controlling influence
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading All distress left her, and she felt herself drifting.
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading And the silence—it was like a cloak.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading There was absolutely no sound.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was absolutely no sound.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading This tide of memory rolled over Madeline again and again, and gradually lost its power and faded.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
at the time that
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
in the company of; together with
From this reading How black the room was—as black with her eyes open as it was when they were shut!
Chapter 3 of The Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey holds 232 sentences, grouped into 47 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 232 sentences of The Light of the Western Stars, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9623 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1095 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1095, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1925 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Light of the Western Stars section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Light of the Western Stars 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 Light of the Western Stars, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
