Chapter 30 of The Plow-Woman is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter 30 of The Plow-Woman is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade. In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves. Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire. Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit. Their black eyes sparkled.
Chapter 30 of The Plow-Woman is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 “brave” — a North American Indian warrior
From this reading “In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.”
unintelligible talking
From this reading “Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.”
a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms
From this reading “In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.”
plural of “mosquito” — two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals
From this reading “In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.”
causing irritation or annoyance
From this reading “In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.”
a smoky fire to drive away insects
From this reading “BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.”
fortification consisting of a fence made of a line of stout posts set firmly for defense
From this reading “BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.”
plural of “swarm” — a moving crowd
From this reading “In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.”
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.
In this reading “Their black eyes sparkled.”
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 BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Their black eyes sparkled.
combined or mixed together so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
plural of “brave” — a North American Indian warrior
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
the act of burning something
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
a low-lying region in central France
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Their black eyes sparkled.
start firing a weapon
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
unintelligible talking
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
the sound of laughing
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
plural of “mosquito” — two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
and nothing more
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
causing irritation or annoyance
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
witty remark
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
plural of “shriek” — sharp piercing cry
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
a smoky fire to drive away insects
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
past form of “sparkle” — reflect brightly
From this reading Their black eyes sparkled.
fortification consisting of a fence made of a line of stout posts set firmly for defense
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
plural of “swarm” — a moving crowd
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading In its lee, to be safe from the swarms of pestering mosquitoes, sat the hostage braves.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading BY THE LIGHT OF A MATCH A smudge was burning at the centre of the stockade.
at the time that
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading Their loud gibberish was broken only when shrieks of laughter followed a sally of wit.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Their pipe-smoke blended with the smoke of the fire.
Chapter 30 of The Plow-Woman by Eleanor Gates holds 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 30 holds 119 sentences of The Plow-Woman, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of The Plow-Woman by Eleanor Gates exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 30 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 Plow-Woman by Eleanor Gates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7668 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31139 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31139, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1534 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Plow-Woman section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Plow-Woman 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 Plow-Woman, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
