Chapter 2 of The poisoned paradise is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The poisoned paradise is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out. They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one. “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it. I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line. You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
Chapter 2 of The poisoned paradise is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.”
rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
From this reading “You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.”
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading “The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.”
occurring by chance
From this reading ““There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.”
assembled for use; especially by being attached to a support
From this reading “They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.”
past form of “precede” — be earlier in time; go back further
From this reading “The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.”
a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading “You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.”
a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts
From this reading “I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.”
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 “They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.”
a woman who is old
In this reading “The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.”
In this reading “The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.”
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 The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
From this reading You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
a formation of aircraft in flight
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
occurring by chance
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
assembled for use; especially by being attached to a support
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
past form of “precede” — be earlier in time; go back further
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading You are a poor bit of skin and bone anyway.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They mounted a broad flight of stairs, then a narrow one.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts
From this reading I’ll warrant a pig-stye is more in your line.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The old woman preceded her down a long corridor, her back bent and her feet splayed out.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “There! that’s your room, and lucky you are to have it.
Chapter 2 of The poisoned paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Service holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 2 holds 409 sentences of The poisoned paradise, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The poisoned paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Service exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 2 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 poisoned paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Service on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The poisoned paradise section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The poisoned paradise 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 poisoned paradise, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
