Chapter 23 of The Valley of Squinting Windows is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Valley of Squinting Windows is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
John went from the kitchen to a restless night. Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window. The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light. He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake. They were dark figures in the somber picture.
Chapter 23 of The Valley of Squinting Windows is here in full — 192 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading “The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.”
without light
From this reading “The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.”
the first light of day
From this reading “Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.”
plural of “figure” — a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading “They were dark figures in the somber picture.”
moving swiftly
From this reading “The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.”
worried and uneasy
From this reading “John went from the kitchen to a restless night.”
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading “They were dark figures in the somber picture.”
occupy a large, elongated area
From this reading “He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.”
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 “Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.”
In this reading “They were dark figures in the somber picture.”
In this reading “The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.”
In this reading “John went from the kitchen to a restless night.”
rise to one's feet
In this reading “Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.”
In this reading “He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.”
In this reading “John went from the kitchen to a restless night.”
be vigilant, be on the lookout or be careful
In this reading “Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.”
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 John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
later than; following
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
without light
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
the first light of day
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
plural of “figure” — a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
moving swiftly
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
a room equipped for preparing meals
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
worried and uneasy
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading The crows had been flying across it darkly since the beginning of the light.
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
in the near future
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
occupy a large, elongated area
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
in the direction of
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading He gazed down now towards the stretch of trees about the lake.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading John went from the kitchen to a restless night.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They were dark figures in the somber picture.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading Soon after daybreak he got up and looked out of the window.
Chapter 23 of The Valley of Squinting Windows by Brinsley MacNamara holds 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 23 holds 192 sentences of The Valley of Squinting Windows, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Valley of Squinting Windows by Brinsley MacNamara exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 192 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 23 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 Valley of Squinting Windows by Brinsley MacNamara on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4490 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61102 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61102, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 374 minutes of reading across 898 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Valley of Squinting Windows section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Valley of Squinting Windows 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 Valley of Squinting Windows, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
