Chapter 21 of The Spider and the Fly is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Spider and the Fly is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WILLFUL MURDER. The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just. He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks. In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene. The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
Chapter 21 of The Spider and the Fly is here in full — 301 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 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.
free from evil or guilt
From this reading “The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.”
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading “He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.”
having edges that are jagged from injury
From this reading “He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.”
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading “WILLFUL MURDER.”
not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading “In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.”
(of flora or fauna) likely in the near future to become endangered
From this reading “The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.”
done by design
From this reading “WILLFUL MURDER.”
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 “He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.”
run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
In this reading “The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.”
In this reading “In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.”
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 He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
dressed or clothed especially in fine attire; often used in combination
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
divisible by two
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
free from evil or guilt
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
having a sharply uneven surface or outline
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
and nothing more
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
having edges that are jagged from injury
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading WILLFUL MURDER.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
with low volume
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The captain slept the sleep of the innocent and just.
(of flora or fauna) likely in the near future to become endangered
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
in an uneventful manner
From this reading The breakfast threatened to go off as quietly and uneventfully as usual.
occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
a Caucasian
From this reading He did not even dream of a white, mangled face lying on the jagged rocks.
done by design
From this reading WILLFUL MURDER.
in the company of; together with
From this reading In the morning he came down, dressed with his usual care, smiling and serene.
Chapter 21 of The Spider and the Fly by Charles Garvice holds 301 sentences, grouped into 61 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 21 holds 301 sentences of The Spider and the Fly, unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Spider and the Fly by Charles Garvice exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 301 sentences, grouped into 61 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 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 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 21 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 Spider and the Fly by Charles Garvice on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7374 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49537 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49537, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1475 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Spider and the Fly section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Spider and the Fly 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 Spider and the Fly, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
