Chapter 1 of This Way to the Egress is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of This Way to the Egress is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place! "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast. "Right under my window." He leaned forward. "You know how children talk to themselves?"
Chapter 1 of This Way to the Egress is here in full — 139 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; especially the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds
From this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
a landlord who is a woman
From this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading “He leaned forward.”
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
a share of something
From this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!”
make brown and crisp by heating
From this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!”
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 “He leaned forward.”
In this reading “"In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.”
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 "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; especially the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading He leaned forward.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You know how children talk to themselves?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "You know how children talk to themselves?"
a landlord who is a woman
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading He leaned forward.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Right under my window."
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
above and across; more than
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
precisely, exactly
From this reading "Right under my window."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
a share of something
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
easily moved to pity or sorrow
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading "You know how children talk to themselves?"
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading "You know how children talk to themselves?"
in or at that place or location
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
make brown and crisp by heating
From this reading "In the middle of the night," the man said to the landlady over a soft-boiled egg and a slice of toast.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading "Right under my window."
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading He heard children's voices, but there couldn't be any children--not in that terrible place!
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading "Right under my window."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You know how children talk to themselves?"
Chapter 1 of This Way to the Egress by Andrew Fetler holds 139 sentences, grouped into 28 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 1 holds 139 sentences of This Way to the Egress, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of This Way to the Egress by Andrew Fetler exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 139 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 1 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 Way to the Egress by Andrew Fetler on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 139 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61332 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61332, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 11 minutes of reading across 28 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through This Way to the Egress section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of This Way to the Egress 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 Way to the Egress, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
