Chapter 2 of Two-Legs is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Two-Legs is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
But it went on raining. The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves. The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside. “Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs. They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
Chapter 2 of Two-Legs is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
possessive form of “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading “The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.”
temporary military shelter
From this reading “The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.”
in order that something should not happen
From this reading “The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.”
past form of “overflow” — flow or run over (a limit or brim)
From this reading “The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.”
falling in drops or as if falling like rain
From this reading “But it went on raining.”
very drunk
From this reading “The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.”
plural of “wave” — one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading “The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.”
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 “They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.”
In this reading “The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.”
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “But it went on raining.”
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 water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
possessive form of “baby” — a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But it went on raining.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading “Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
placed crosswise
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
recognizable; marked
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
past form of “fear” — be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
temporary military shelter
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But it went on raining.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
go away from a place
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
in order that something should not happen
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading “Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading But it went on raining.
past form of “overflow” — flow or run over (a limit or brim)
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
falling in drops or as if falling like rain
From this reading But it went on raining.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Baby’s cold,” said Mrs. Two-Legs.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
very drunk
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
in or at that place or location
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
up to a particular time
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
precisely as stated
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading The water soaked through the roof of the hut until there was not a dry spot inside.
plural of “wave” — one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading The river overflowed its banks and Two-Legs feared lest his island should go under in the waves.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading But it went on raining.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They decided to leave the island and crossed the river with great difficulty, for it was now very deep.
Chapter 2 of Two-Legs by Carl Ewald holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 429 sentences of Two-Legs, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Two-Legs by Carl Ewald exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Two-Legs by Carl Ewald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2530 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65029 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65029, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 210 minutes of reading across 506 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Two-Legs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Two-Legs 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 Two-Legs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
