Chapter 5 of The White Shield is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The White Shield is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Ha! That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle? A noble alliance truly! An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog! Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
Chapter 5 of The White Shield is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
the state of being allied or confederated
From this reading “A noble alliance truly!”
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading “Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!”
leaping insect; male makes chirping noises by rubbing the forewings together
From this reading “An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!”
five-toed pachyderm
From this reading “An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!”
at or to or toward the front
From this reading “Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!”
any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
From this reading “An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!”
plural of “hundred” — ten 10s
From this reading “Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!”
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading “An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!”
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 “Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!”
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 A noble alliance truly!
the state of being allied or confederated
From this reading A noble alliance truly!
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
(used of persons or the military) characterized by having or bearing arms
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
at or to or toward the back or rear
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
a person who is in charge
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
leaping insect; male makes chirping noises by rubbing the forewings together
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
five-toed pachyderm
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
(astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
From this reading "Ha!
an old form of “have”, used with “thou”
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
plural of “hundred” — ten 10s
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
the force of workers available
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
impressive in appearance
From this reading A noble alliance truly!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
and nothing more
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
express in words
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading An alliance between the elephant and the cricket, between the serpent and the frog!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading A noble alliance truly!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading That is what thou hast to say, Chief of the Blue Cattle?
which person or people
From this reading Ha! a people who in their armed hundreds are driven backwards and forwards like cattle by two men--only two!
Chapter 5 of The White Shield by Bertram Mitford holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 5 holds 415 sentences of The White Shield, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The White Shield by Bertram Mitford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 5 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 White Shield by Bertram Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4145 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32893 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32893, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 345 minutes of reading across 829 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Shield section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The White Shield 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 White Shield, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
