Chapter 2 of This Finer Shadow is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of This Finer Shadow is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups. The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them. “Milk,” yelled Martin. He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table. An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
Chapter 2 of This Finer Shadow is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 “bean” — any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae used for food
From this reading ““Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.”
meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
From this reading ““Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.”
past form of “ladle” — put (a liquid) into a container by means of a ladle
From this reading “The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.”
a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
From this reading ““Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.”
-ing form of “scavenge” — clean refuse from
From this reading “An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.”
a share of something
From this reading “The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.”
not shaved
From this reading “An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.”
being unoccupied
From this reading “He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.”
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 boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.”
a man who is very old
In this reading “An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.”
In this reading “An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.”
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 boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
plural of “bean” — any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae used for food
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
cooked in hot water
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
a youthful male person
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
plural of “cup” — a small open container usually used for drinking; usually has a handle
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
coming down freely under the influence of gravity
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
past form of “ladle” — put (a liquid) into a container by means of a ladle
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)
From this reading “Milk,” yelled Martin.
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading “Milk,” yelled Martin.
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
(baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
plural of “plate” — (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
-ing form of “scavenge” — clean refuse from
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
a share of something
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Ham and beans!” he shouted against the noise of rattling plates and cups.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
not shaved
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The boy behind the counter ladled out a large plate of beans, dropping a slice of boiled ham upon them.
being unoccupied
From this reading He carried his tray to a vacancy on the long, marble-slabbed table.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading An old man, bent, unshaven, was scavenging the plates for food that others had left.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading “Milk,” yelled Martin.
Chapter 2 of This Finer Shadow by Harlan Cozad McIntosh holds 413 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 2 holds 413 sentences of This Finer Shadow, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of This Finer Shadow by Harlan Cozad McIntosh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 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 2 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 This Finer Shadow by Harlan Cozad McIntosh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8222 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64251 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64251, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1645 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through This Finer Shadow section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of This Finer Shadow 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 This Finer Shadow, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
