Chapter 16 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair. Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh? Whata you know about this round-up? The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me. How should I smell anythin'?
Chapter 16 of The Pagan Madonna is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
small wolf native to western North America
From this reading “Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?”
make a sudden movement in a new direction so as to avoid
From this reading “Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?”
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading “After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.”
having a difficult and contrary disposition
From this reading “Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “How should I smell anythin'?”
small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water
From this reading “The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.”
past form of “throttle” — place limits on (extent or amount or access)
From this reading “Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?”
the upper part of anything
From this reading “The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.”
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.
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 Whata you know about this round-up?
later than; following
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How should I smell anythin'?
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
small wolf native to western North America
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
make a sudden movement in a new direction so as to avoid
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
a quad with a square body
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
destroyed or killed
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How should I smell anythin'?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Whata you know about this round-up?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
having a difficult and contrary disposition
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Whata you know about this round-up?
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading How should I smell anythin'?
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading How should I smell anythin'?
small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading After they had gone below Dennison dropped into Jane's chair.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Whata you know about this round-up?
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
past form of “throttle” — place limits on (extent or amount or access)
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
the upper part of anything
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
up to a particular time
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The three o' 'em came in, and I never smelt nothin' until they were on top o' me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Whata you know about this round-up?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Immediately Dodge began to talk: "So you nearly throttled that ornery coyote, huh?
Chapter 16 of The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath holds 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 16 holds 215 sentences of The Pagan Madonna, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Pagan Madonna by Harold MacGrath exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 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.
