Chapter IX of The Wavy Tailed Warrior, “The Secret of the Snake Guard,” is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IX
Chapter IX of The Wavy Tailed Warrior, “The Secret of the Snake Guard,” is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened. The snake dropped and lay still. Only its crooked tail kept wriggling. “It’s dead,” thought Stripes. “It will never hurt another bird.
Chapter IX of The Wavy Tailed Warrior, “The Secret of the Snake Guard,” is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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 “coil” — a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
From this reading “The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.”
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading “Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.”
straightened out
From this reading “The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.”
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading “The snake dropped and lay still.”
V-shaped sleeve badge indicating military rank and service
From this reading “The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.”
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading “Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.”
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading “The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.”
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading “The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.”
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 “The snake dropped and lay still.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The snake dropped and lay still.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
plural of “coil” — a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading “It’s dead,” thought Stripes.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading The snake dropped and lay still.
be the source of pain
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It’s dead,” thought Stripes.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The snake dropped and lay still.
straightened out
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
and nothing more
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading The snake dropped and lay still.
not in physical motion
From this reading The snake dropped and lay still.
V-shaped sleeve badge indicating military rank and service
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “It’s dead,” thought Stripes.
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “It will never hurt another bird.
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading The coils that were wound about Stripes’ throat loosened.
moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
From this reading Only its crooked tail kept wriggling.
Chapter 9 of The Wavy Tailed Warrior by John Breck holds 143 sentences, grouped into 29 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 9 holds 143 sentences of The Wavy Tailed Warrior, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Wavy Tailed Warrior by John Breck exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 143 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 9 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 Wavy Tailed Warrior by John Breck on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1201 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64298 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64298, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 100 minutes of reading across 241 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Wavy Tailed Warrior section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Wavy Tailed Warrior 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 Wavy Tailed Warrior, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
