Chapter 19 of The Secret of the Ninth Planet is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of The Secret of the Ninth Planet is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Burl Denning! Can you hear me, Burl Denning?" A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him. But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled. "Burl Denning!
Chapter 19 of The Secret of the Ninth Planet is here in full — 216 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
the wood cut from a tree burl or outgrowth; often used decoratively in veneer
From this reading “"Burl Denning!”
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading “A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.”
comparative of “deeply” — to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading “But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.”
fall or descend to a lower place or level
From this reading “But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.”
a very sleepy state
From this reading “But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.”
in or at or to some place
From this reading “A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.”
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading “A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.”
of or containing tin
From this reading “A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.”
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 “But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.”
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 A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
(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 But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
the wood cut from a tree burl or outgrowth; often used decoratively in veneer
From this reading "Burl Denning!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Can you hear me, Burl Denning?"
resembling cotton; as soft as cotton
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
comparative of “deeply” — to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Burl Denning!
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Can you hear me, Burl Denning?"
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Can you hear me, Burl Denning?"
not one thing; not anything
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
and nothing more
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
fall or descend to a lower place or level
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
a very sleepy state
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
in or at or to some place
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
of or containing tin
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A thin, tinny voice somewhere was calling him.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading But the darkness was all around, and Burl felt a great sleepiness and a desire only to sink deeper into the cottony nothing in which he seemed to be cradled.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Can you hear me, Burl Denning?"
Chapter 19 of The Secret of the Ninth Planet by Donald A. Wollheim holds 216 sentences, grouped into 44 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 19 holds 216 sentences of The Secret of the Ninth Planet, unabridged, divided into 44 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of The Secret of the Ninth Planet by Donald A. Wollheim exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 216 sentences, grouped into 44 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 44 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 44 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 19 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 Secret of the Ninth Planet by Donald A. Wollheim on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3287 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33644 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33644, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 273 minutes of reading across 658 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Secret of the Ninth Planet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Secret of the Ninth 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 Secret of the Ninth Planet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
