Chapter 1 of The Red Derelict is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Red Derelict is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD. CHAPTER ONE. THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU. "Mine!" The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
Chapter 1 of The Red Derelict is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
uttered without voice
From this reading “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
happiness with one's situation in life
From this reading “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
past form of “convey” — (of information) make known; pass on
From this reading “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
worn and broken down by hard use
From this reading “________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.”
feeling great rapture or delight
From this reading “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events
From this reading “THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.”
large African antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
From this reading “THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.”
rise and fall of the voice pitch
From this reading “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
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 “The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.”
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 word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
uttered without voice
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring; used especially of the patterned fur of cats
From this reading THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
happiness with one's situation in life
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
past form of “convey” — (of information) make known; pass on
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
worn and broken down by hard use
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
feeling great rapture or delight
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events
From this reading THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.
divisible by two
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
large African antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
From this reading THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.
rise and fall of the voice pitch
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Mine!"
United States writer (born in England) who wrote on American culture (1917-1996)
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
used to form the superlative
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE EPISODE OF THE BRINDLED GNU.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
on the contrary
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
a general conscious awareness
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ________________________________________________________________________ THE RED DERELICT, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.
communicated in words
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading The word was breathed rather than uttered, and its intonation conveyed a sense of the most perfect, even ecstatic, contentment.
Chapter 1 of The Red Derelict by Bertram Mitford holds 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 1 holds 430 sentences of The Red Derelict, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Red Derelict by Bertram Mitford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 1 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 Red Derelict by Bertram Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6381 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36588 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36588, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 531 minutes of reading across 1277 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Red Derelict section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The Red Derelict 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 Red Derelict, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
