Chapter 20 of The Witch, and Other Stories is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Witch, and Other Stories is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence. “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it. Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat. That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.” “That’s true,” Panteley agreed.
Chapter 20 of The Witch, and Other Stories is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 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.
The quality of being intelligent, quick to understand, and resourceful in danger.
From this reading ““We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading “Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.”
your parents
From this reading “That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.””
impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
From this reading ““How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.”
killed unlawfully
From this reading “Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.”
spoil as if by poison
From this reading “That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.””
a clergyman who watches over a group of people
From this reading ““How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.””
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 “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
later than; following
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
united by being of the same opinion
From this reading “That’s true,” Panteley agreed.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
Having no one else present.
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
of short duration or distance
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
The quality of being intelligent, quick to understand, and resourceful in danger.
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
your parents
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
being nothing more than specified
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
killed unlawfully
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
necessary for relief or supply
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
not any; not one
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s true,” Panteley agreed.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
spoil as if by poison
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
cause to go somewhere
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
a clergyman who watches over a group of people
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That is such a poison that folks will die from the mere smell of it, let alone the fat.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s true,” Panteley agreed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading “That’s true,” Panteley agreed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
in or at the place that
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “We all know how, there is no great cleverness needed where there is a will to it.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yefim murdered people with viper’s fat.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading “How did he send the illness?” asked the young shepherd after a brief silence.
Chapter 20 of The Witch, and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov holds 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 20 holds 190 sentences of The Witch, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Witch, and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 20 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 Witch, and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4578 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1944 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1944, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 381 minutes of reading across 916 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Witch, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Witch, and Other Stories 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 Witch, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
