Chapter 21 of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Virginian gave a joyous gulp. He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed. “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he. “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it. Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.
Chapter 21 of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading ““I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.”
any undertaking that is easy to do
From this reading ““I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading “He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.”
to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
From this reading “The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.”
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading “The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.”
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading “Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.”
closely constrained or constricted or constricting
From this reading ““I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.”
a native or resident of Virginia
From this reading “The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.”
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 The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.
any undertaking that is easy to do
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
From this reading The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.
used to form the superlative
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He now came and sat down on the edge of my bed.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
closely constrained or constricted or constricting
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “I spoke awful good English to him most of the time,” said he.
a native or resident of Virginia
From this reading The Virginian gave a joyous gulp.
at the time that
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, I cert’nly spoke a lot o’ good English.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I can, yu’ know, when I cinch my attention tight on to it.
Chapter 21 of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister holds 244 sentences, grouped into 49 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 244 sentences of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 244 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9717 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1298 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1298, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1944 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains 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 Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
