Chapter 16 of The Night-Born is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Night-Born is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on. The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured. Diaz could not resist. He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south. And through the south the flame would spread despite.
Chapter 16 of The Night-Born is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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 “army” — a permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
From this reading “He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.”
reduce to bankruptcy
From this reading “Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.”
Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was the first European to get round the Cape of Good Hope (thus establishing a sea route from the Atlantic to Asia) (1450-1500)
From this reading “Diaz could not resist.”
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading “The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.”
throw with force or recklessness
From this reading “Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.”
consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature
From this reading “Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.”
plural of “port” — a place (seaport or airport) where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
From this reading “The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.”
disposed to seek revenge or intended for revenge
From this reading “Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
plural of “army” — a permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
reduce to bankruptcy
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
a line that indicates a boundary
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
past form of “capture” — succeed in representing or expressing something intangible
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Diaz could not resist.
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
past form of “dare” — take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
although something is true; in spite of
From this reading And through the south the flame would spread despite.
Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was the first European to get round the Cape of Good Hope (thus establishing a sea route from the Atlantic to Asia) (1450-1500)
From this reading Diaz could not resist.
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
A hot glowing body of ignited gas produced by fire.
From this reading And through the south the flame would spread despite.
throw with force or recklessness
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Diaz could not resist.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
plural of “port” — a place (seaport or airport) where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
elude, especially in a baffling way
From this reading Diaz could not resist.
a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
distribute or disperse widely
From this reading And through the south the flame would spread despite.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading And through the south the flame would spread despite.
propel through the air
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
disposed to seek revenge or intended for revenge
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Fling this heterogeneous, bankrupt, vindictive mass across the border, and the Revolution was on.
the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity
From this reading He dared not throw the weight of his armies against them, for he must hold the south.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The custom house, the northern ports of entry, would be captured.
Chapter 16 of The Night-Born by Jack London holds 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 16 holds 225 sentences of The Night-Born, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Night-Born by Jack London exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 16 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 Night-Born by Jack London on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4015 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1029 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1029, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 334 minutes of reading across 803 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Night-Born section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Night-Born 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 Night-Born, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
