Chapter 8 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence. “Look at that black horse!” Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by. He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand. He bestrode a magnificent horse.
Chapter 8 of The Light of the Western Stars is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
inflected form of “bestride” — get up on the back of
From this reading “He bestrode a magnificent horse.”
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)
From this reading ““Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.”
mark as different
From this reading “He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.”
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading ““Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.”
a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading “He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.”
characterized by grandeur
From this reading “He bestrode a magnificent horse.”
a native or inhabitant of Mexico
From this reading “Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.”
past form of “remind” — put in the mind of someone
From this reading “He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.”
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 Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “Look at that black horse!”
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
inflected form of “bestride” — get up on the back of
From this reading He bestrode a magnificent horse.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading “Look at that black horse!”
an armed thief who is (usually) a member of a band
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
mark as different
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading “Look at that black horse!”
a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
characterized by grandeur
From this reading He bestrode a magnificent horse.
a native or inhabitant of Mexico
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
past form of “remind” — put in the mind of someone
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
the sport of sitting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
cut with a saw
From this reading Madeleine saw a dark-faced Mexican riding by.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Look at that black horse!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Look, Miss Hammond, there’s Don Carlos!” said Florence.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was too far away for her to distinguish his features, but he reminded her of an Italian brigand.
Chapter 8 of The Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey holds 244 sentences, grouped into 49 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 8 holds 244 sentences of The Light of the Western Stars, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 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 244 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 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.
