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The Mercenary
The Mercenary

Chapter IV

Chapter 4 of The Mercenary is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By W. J. Eccott • Curated US English Learning Edition
Cover illustration for The Mercenary
Context Illustration Reading 1/28 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.
Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.
The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.
There were undulations.
It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Mercenary

Chapter IV

Chapter 4 of The Mercenary is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/28 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.
Line 2
Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.
/let jɔːr ˈdʒɜːrniɪŋ biː ˈnevər soʊ briːf ɪt niːd nɑːt biː ˈtiːdiəs/
Line 3
The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.
Line 4
There were undulations.
Line 5
It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.
/ɪt wɑːz nɑːt æz flæt æz ə ˈbækɡæmən bɔːrd nɔːr hæd ɪt ə hɪl ðæt wʊd hæv meɪd æn oʊld hɔːrs aʊt ʌv breθ/

Learner Dictionary

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.

backgammon noun US /ˈbækɡæmən/

a board game for two players; pieces move according to throws of the dice

From this reading “It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
brief adjective US /briːf/

of short duration or distance

From this reading “Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
flat adjective US /flæt/

having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another

From this reading “The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
journeying noun US /ˈdʒɜːrniɪŋ/

the act of traveling from one place to another

From this reading “Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
stretches noun US /ˈstretʃəz/

plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance

From this reading “The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
tedious adjective US /ˈtiːdiəs/

so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness

From this reading “Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
Warsaw noun US /ˈwɔːrsɔː/

the capital and largest city of Poland; located in central Poland

From this reading “The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
Zee noun US /ziː/

the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet

From this reading “The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

Word partnerships in these lines

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.

twenty miles noun + noun counted as “twenty mile”

In this reading “The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.”

6,322 times in 426,211 chapters
ON THE ROAD preposition + article + noun counted as “on … road”

travelling about

In this reading “ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.”

18,540 times in 426,211 chapters

All words in this reading · 51

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.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
andeterminerUS /æn/

the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
backgammonnounUS /ˈbækɡæmən/

a board game for two players; pieces move according to throws of the dice

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
boardnounUS /bɔːrd/

a committee having supervisory powers

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
breathnounUS /breθ/

the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
briefadjectiveUS /briːf/

of short duration or distance

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
ERFURT

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.

Pending verification
flatadjectiveUS /flæt/

having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
fromprepositionUS /frʌm/

showing where something starts, or who sent it

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
greatadjectiveUS /ɡreɪt/

relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
hillnounUS /hɪl/

a local and well-defined elevation of the land

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
horsenounUS /hɔːrs/

solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
journeyingnounUS /ˈdʒɜːrniɪŋ/

the act of traveling from one place to another

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
Letauxiliary verbUS /let/

used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
madeadjectiveUS /meɪd/

produced by a manufacturing process

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
Magdeburg

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Pending verification
milesnounUS /maɪlz/

plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
neednounUS /niːd/

a condition requiring relief

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
neveradverbUS /ˈnevər/

not ever; at no time in the past or future

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
norconjunctionUS /nɔːr/

and not; used after a negative to add a second negative

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
oldadjectiveUS /oʊld/

(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
ONprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
outadjectiveUS /aʊt/

not allowed to continue to bat or run

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
plainadjectiveUS /pleɪn/

clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
ROADnounUS /roʊd/

an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation

From this reading ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
Strassfurt

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Pending verification
stretchesnounUS /ˈstretʃəz/

plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
tediousadjectiveUS /ˈtiːdiəs/

so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
ThereadverbUS /ðer/

in or at that place or location

From this reading There were undulations.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
TOparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading ON THE ROAD TO ERFURT.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
twentynounUS /ˈtwenti/

the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
undulations

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were undulations.

Pending verification
WarsawnounUS /ˈwɔːrsɔː/

the capital and largest city of Poland; located in central Poland

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading There were undulations.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
wouldmodal verbUS /wʊd/

used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past

From this reading It was not as flat as a backgammon board, nor had it a hill that would have made an old horse out of breath.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/

belonging to the person or people being spoken to

From this reading Let your journeying be never so brief, it need not be tedious.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
ZeenounUS /ziː/

the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
Zuider

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The road was as flat from Magdeburg to Strassfurt, and that was twenty miles, as is the great plain that stretches from the Zuider Zee to Warsaw and on and on.

Pending verification

Chapter 4 of The Mercenary by W. J. Eccott holds 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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.

What does chapter 4 of The Mercenary contain?

Chapter 4 holds 140 sentences of The Mercenary, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 4 of The Mercenary by W. J. Eccott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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.

How do I study chapter 4 of The Mercenary?

Work through the 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 28 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.

Can chapter 4 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 4 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.

Questions about reading The Mercenary

Common questions about reading The Mercenary by W. J. Eccott on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Mercenary?

Yes. All 5752 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40567 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Mercenary is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #40567, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Mercenary take to read?

About 479 minutes of reading across 1151 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Mercenary section by section

How to work through The Mercenary section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Mercenary to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Mercenary

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Mercenary, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Works
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Mercenary; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Author
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Mercenary; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Crown
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Mercenary; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Fortune's
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Mercenary; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.