Chapter 3 of The Men in the Walls is here in full — 469 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Men in the Walls is here in full — 469 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He was on the other side. He was in Monster territory. He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world. The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him. Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
Chapter 3 of The Men in the Walls is here in full — 469 sentences across 94 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/93 · 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 “burrow” — a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter
From this reading “The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.”
beyond belief or understanding
From this reading “He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.”
all of the living human inhabitants of the earth
From this reading “The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.”
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading “He was in Monster territory.”
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading “Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.”
an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
From this reading “Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.”
a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
From this reading “He was in Monster territory.”
eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
From this reading “Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.”
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 “He was on the other side.”
In this reading “The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
plural of “burrow” — a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
well known or easily recognized
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was on the other side.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He was in Monster territory.
beyond belief or understanding
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
all of the living human inhabitants of the earth
From this reading The burrows, Mankind, everything familiar, lay behind him.
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading He was in Monster territory.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He was on the other side.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading He was on the other side.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading He was on the other side.
an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
confined on all sides
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
From this reading He was in Monster territory.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He was on the other side.
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
From this reading Panic rose from his stomach and into his throat like vomit.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was on the other side.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading He was surrounded by the strange Monster light, the incredible Monster world.
Chapter 3 of The Men in the Walls by William Tenn holds 469 sentences, grouped into 94 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 469 sentences of The Men in the Walls, unabridged, divided into 94 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Men in the Walls by William Tenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 469 sentences, grouped into 94 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 94 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 94 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 Men in the Walls by William Tenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2320 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51122 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51122, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 193 minutes of reading across 464 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Men in the Walls section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Men in the Walls 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 Men in the Walls, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
