Chapter 20 of The Story of Gösta Berling is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Story of Gösta Berling is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores. People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates. Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world? What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley? She comes begging.
Chapter 20 of The Story of Gösta Berling is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)
From this reading “She comes begging.”
endless loop of flexible material between two rotating shafts or pulleys
From this reading “People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.”
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading “People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.”
plural of “plate” — (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading “People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.”
plural of “shore” — the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading “THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.”
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading “People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.”
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
From this reading “THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.”
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading “THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.”
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.
tableware that is plated with silver
In this reading “People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.”
appear or become visible; make a showing
In this reading “Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?”
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 People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)
From this reading She comes begging.
endless loop of flexible material between two rotating shafts or pulleys
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading She comes begging.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
characteristic of humanity
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
plural of “mountain” — a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
plural of “plate” — (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
plural of “shore” — the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
in or at that place or location
From this reading People have seen her there, little and bent, in a leather skirt and a belt of silver plates.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What does the old creature of the mountains want in the green of the valley?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading THE WITCH OF DOVRE The witch of Dovre walks on Löfven’s shores.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Why has she come out of the wolf-holes to a human world?
Chapter 20 of The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf holds 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 20 holds 113 sentences of The Story of Gösta Berling, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 20 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 Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9029 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56158 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56158, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1806 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Story of Gösta Berling section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Story of Gösta Berling 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 Story of Gösta Berling, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
