Chapter 2 of The Prisoner is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Prisoner is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"What a name for her--Esther!" Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur. "Esther! Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful." "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
Chapter 2 of The Prisoner is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading “"What a name for her--Esther!"”
the property possessed by a slope that is very gradual
From this reading “"She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.”
the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
the amount of energy transmitted (as by acoustic or electromagnetic radiation)
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
the grammatical relation that exists when a word qualifies the meaning of the phrase
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
be driven or carried along, as by the air
From this reading “Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.”
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 "What a name for her--Esther!"
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading "What a name for her--Esther!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "What a name for her--Esther!"
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
the property possessed by a slope that is very gradual
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "What a name for her--Esther!"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
low or inferior in station or quality
From this reading Esthers are all gentle and humble and beautiful."
the amount of energy transmitted (as by acoustic or electromagnetic radiation)
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading "What a name for her--Esther!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
the grammatical relation that exists when a word qualifies the meaning of the phrase
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
precisely as stated
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
be driven or carried along, as by the air
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What a name for her--Esther!"
having or prompted by wisdom or discernment
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Lydia ejaculated, with an intensity of hatred Anne tried to waft away by a little qualifying murmur.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "She is a very pretty woman," said her father, with a wise gentleness of his own.
Chapter 2 of The Prisoner by Alice Brown holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 404 sentences of The Prisoner, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Prisoner by Alice Brown exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Prisoner by Alice Brown on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10669 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29366 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29366, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2134 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Prisoner section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Prisoner 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 Prisoner, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
