Chapter 23 of The man on the meteor is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The man on the meteor is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
We had no time to decide what we should do. The monster saw us. Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting. And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on. We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
Chapter 23 of The man on the meteor is here in full — 161 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
past form of “dart” — move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading “We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.”
plural of “fish” — any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading “Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.”
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading “The monster saw us.”
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading “Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.”
being or made softer or less loud or clear
From this reading “And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.”
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading “And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.”
toward one side
From this reading “We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.”
force or impel in an indicated direction
From this reading “And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.”
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.
In this reading “And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.”
In this reading “We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.”
In this reading “And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.”
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 further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
past form of “dart” — move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
reach, make, or come to a decision about something
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
the property created by the space between two objects or points
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
plural of “fish” — any of various mostly cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates usually having scales and breathing through gills
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
to or at a greater extent or degree or a more advanced stage (“further” is used more often than “farther” in this abstract sense)
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading The monster saw us.
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
being or made softer or less loud or clear
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
not any; not one
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
cut with a saw
From this reading The monster saw us.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
toward one side
From this reading We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The monster saw us.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
force or impel in an indicated direction
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The monster saw us.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading And further below them—dim and muffled in the distance—we heard Og’s voice shouting a shrill command to urge them on.
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 We darted out sidewise, away from the wall.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Beneath us—almost in sight now—the black fishes were mounting.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading We had no time to decide what we should do.
Chapter 23 of The man on the meteor by Ray Cummings holds 161 sentences, grouped into 33 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 23 holds 161 sentences of The man on the meteor, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The man on the meteor by Ray Cummings exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 161 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 23 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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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 man on the meteor, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
