Chapter 23 of The Red Planet is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Red Planet is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war. The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago. Since then I have been very ill. The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me. By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
Chapter 23 of The Red Planet is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading “It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.”
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading “By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.”
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading “The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.”
plural of “rule” — a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading “By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.”
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading “The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.”
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading “The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.”
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading “It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.”
an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
From this reading “The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
in the past
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
(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 By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
plural of “rule” — a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading By all the rules of the game I ought to have died.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading The shock, too great for my silly heart, nearly killed me.
an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
From this reading The tragedy of Boyce's death happened six months ago.
precisely as stated
From this reading Since then I have been very ill.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading It is Christmas morning, 1916, the third Christmas of the war.
Chapter 23 of The Red Planet by William John Locke holds 249 sentences, grouped into 50 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 249 sentences of The Red Planet, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Red Planet by William John Locke exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 23 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 Planet by William John Locke on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7299 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4287 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4287, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1460 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Red Planet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of The Red Planet 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 Planet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
