Chapter 4 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 318 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 318 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Morning and winnowed skies; China awake. The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road. Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged. Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd. Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
Chapter 4 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 318 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/63 · 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.
shop where dry cleaning is done
From this reading “Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.”
a coagulated liquid resembling milk curd
From this reading “Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.”
inflected form of “jog” — continue talking or writing in a desultory manner
From this reading “Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.”
a member of the nomadic peoples of Mongolia
From this reading “Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.”
a city in eastern China on the Yangtze River; a former capital of China; the scene of a Japanese massacre in the 1930s
From this reading “The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.”
plural of “puddle” — a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry
From this reading “Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.”
past form of “rumble” — make a low noise
From this reading “Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.”
past form of “winnow” — separate the chaff from grain by using air currents
From this reading “Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
anew
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
plural of “automobile” — a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
plural of “banner” — long strip of cloth or paper used for decoration or advertising
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae used for food
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
of the red of fresh raspberries
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
shop where dry cleaning is done
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
a coagulated liquid resembling milk curd
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
to or in any or all places
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
the motion made by flapping up and down
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
plural of “jacket” — a short coat
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
inflected form of “jog” — continue talking or writing in a desultory manner
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
a member of the nomadic peoples of Mongolia
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
water soaked soil; soft wet earth
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
a city in eastern China on the Yangtze River; a former capital of China; the scene of a Japanese massacre in the 1930s
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
plural of “pony” — a range horse of the western United States
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
plural of “puddle” — a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
past form of “rumble” — make a low noise
From this reading Mongolian ponies clattered about, automobiles rumbled, 'rickshas jogged.
plural of “sky” — the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Street cleaners in bright-red cotton jackets were busy with the mud puddles.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The great black-and-gold banners were again fluttering in Nanking Road.
past form of “winnow” — separate the chaff from grain by using air currents
From this reading Morning and winnowed skies; China awake.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Venders were everywhere, many with hot rice and bean curd.
Chapter 4 of The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath holds 318 sentences, grouped into 64 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 4 holds 318 sentences of The Pagan Madonna, unabridged, divided into 64 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 318 sentences, grouped into 64 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 64 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 64 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 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.
Common questions about reading The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5543 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27339 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27339, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 461 minutes of reading across 1109 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pagan Madonna section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The Pagan Madonna 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 Pagan Madonna, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
