Chapter 8 of The Moth Decides: A Novel is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Moth Decides: A Novel is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose. "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water. "If we had this in the centre of the desert...." "I suppose it would make a difference." All at once she pictured the desert.
Chapter 8 of The Moth Decides: A Novel is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
a low-lying region in central France
From this reading “"If we had this in the centre of the desert...."”
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading “She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “"If we had this in the centre of the desert...."”
in a manner arousing sympathy and compassion
From this reading “She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.”
seen in the mind as a mental image
From this reading “All at once she pictured the desert.”
a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
From this reading “She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.”
shining with brilliant points of light like stars
From this reading “"I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.”
arrange or fold as a cover or protection
From this reading “She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.”
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.
effervescent beverage artificially charged with carbon dioxide
In this reading “"I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “All at once she pictured the desert.”
In this reading “"I suppose it would make a difference."”
In this reading “"If we had this in the centre of the desert...."”
In this reading “She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.”
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 "I suppose it would make a difference."
(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 at once she pictured the desert.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading All at once she pictured the desert.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
a low-lying region in central France
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
From this reading "I suppose it would make a difference."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
engage in
From this reading "I suppose it would make a difference."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
on one occasion
From this reading All at once she pictured the desert.
above and across; more than
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
in a manner arousing sympathy and compassion
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
seen in the mind as a mental image
From this reading All at once she pictured the desert.
an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
shining with brilliant points of light like stars
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
express a supposition
From this reading "I suppose it would make a difference."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "If we had this in the centre of the desert...."
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading "I suppose it would make a difference."
arrange or fold as a cover or protection
From this reading She gave him the light silk wrap, and he carried it on his arm, crooked almost pathetically for the purpose.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I don't wonder you like it up here," he said, looking off over the sparkling water.
Chapter 8 of The Moth Decides: A Novel by Edward Alden Jewell holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 8 holds 420 sentences of The Moth Decides: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Moth Decides: A Novel by Edward Alden Jewell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Moth Decides: A Novel by Edward Alden Jewell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4622 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61523 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61523, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 385 minutes of reading across 925 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Moth Decides: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Moth Decides: A Novel 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 Moth Decides: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
