Chapter 39 of The Top of the World is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of The Top of the World is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere. It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily. He knew the _veldt_ by heart. Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs. It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
Chapter 39 of The Top of the World is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
covered with water
From this reading “THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.”
past form of “race” — move hurridly
From this reading “It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.”
deeply affected or marked by mental or physical pain or injury
From this reading “It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.”
the act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface
From this reading “THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.”
propelled violently in a usually narrow stream
From this reading “Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.”
inflected form of “tread” — put down or press the foot, place the foot
From this reading “It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.”
in a wary manner
From this reading “It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.”
-ing form of “well” — come up, as of a liquid
From this reading “THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.”
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 Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He knew the _veldt_ by heart.
a transparent piece of diamond that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
to or in any or all places
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He knew the _veldt_ by heart.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading He knew the _veldt_ by heart.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading He knew the _veldt_ by heart.
a small hill rising up from the African veld
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
above and across; more than
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
covered with water
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
past form of “race” — move hurridly
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
move hurridly
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
deeply affected or marked by mental or physical pain or injury
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
plural of “side” — a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading It gurgled and raced over its scarred sides.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
the act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
propelled violently in a usually narrow stream
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
plural of “spring” — the season of growth
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading Passing the _kopje_, the rush of the water was like the spouting of a thousand springs.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
a line or route along which something travels or moves
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
inflected form of “tread” — put down or press the foot, place the foot
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
elevated open grassland in southern Africa
From this reading He knew the _veldt_ by heart.
in a wary manner
From this reading It was difficult to keep the track, but Diamond trod warily.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
-ing form of “well” — come up, as of a liquid
From this reading THE SACRIFICE The sound of water, splashing, welling, overflowing, was everywhere.
Chapter 39 of The Top of the World by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell holds 212 sentences, grouped into 43 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 39 holds 212 sentences of The Top of the World, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of The Top of the World by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 212 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 39 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 Top of the World by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10126 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12360 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12360, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2026 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Top of the World section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Top of the World 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 Top of the World, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
