Chapter 12 of The River of Darkness is here in full — 121 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The River of Darkness is here in full — 121 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE. "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you. Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people. It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it." Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
Chapter 12 of The River of Darkness is here in full — 121 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading “Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.”
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading “It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."”
an informal term for a youth or man
From this reading “Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.”
a title given to rulers or other important people in Asian countries
From this reading “Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.”
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading “Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.”
past form of “stagger” — walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading “Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.”
third-person singular of “unfold” — develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading “CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.”
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 CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
terminate
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
an informal term for a youth or man
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
a title given to rulers or other important people in Asian countries
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
on one occasion
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
and nothing more
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
past form of “stagger” — walk as if unable to control one's movements
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.
express in words
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
third-person singular of “unfold” — develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading CANARIS UNFOLDS A TALE.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Melton covered his face with his hands, and Guy staggered backward.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading It was his only hope, and now, his word once given, he will not dare to break it."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Well," said Canaris, "I will tell you.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Rao Khan has promised your lives to the people.
Chapter 12 of The River of Darkness by William Murray Graydon holds 121 sentences, grouped into 25 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 12 holds 121 sentences of The River of Darkness, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The River of Darkness by William Murray Graydon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 121 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 12 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.
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Yes. All 3841 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #24297 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #24297, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 320 minutes of reading across 769 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The River of Darkness section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The River of Darkness 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 River of Darkness, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
