Chapter 39 of War and Peace is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of War and Peace is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A locomotive is moving. Someone asks: “What moves it?” A peasant says the devil moves it. Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round. A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
Chapter 39 of War and Peace is here in full — 453 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Someone asks: “What moves it?””
third-person singular of “assert” — state categorically
From this reading “A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.”
plural of “carry” — the act of carrying something
From this reading “A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.”
a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks
From this reading “A locomotive is moving.”
plural of “move” — the act of deciding to do something
From this reading “Someone asks: “What moves it?””
a country person
From this reading “A peasant says the devil moves it.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “Someone asks: “What moves it?””
plural of “wheel” — a simple machine consisting of a circular frame with spokes (or a solid disc) that can rotate on a shaft or axle (as in vehicles or other machines)
From this reading “Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.”
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 locomotive is moving.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Someone asks: “What moves it?”
third-person singular of “assert” — state categorically
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
for the reason that
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
plural of “carry” — the act of carrying something
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading A peasant says the devil moves it.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A locomotive is moving.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Someone asks: “What moves it?”
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks
From this reading A locomotive is moving.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
a change of position that does not entail a change of location
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
plural of “move” — the act of deciding to do something
From this reading Someone asks: “What moves it?”
in motion
From this reading A locomotive is moving.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
a country person
From this reading A peasant says the devil moves it.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading A peasant says the devil moves it.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
a person, without saying who
From this reading Someone asks: “What moves it?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A peasant says the devil moves it.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Someone asks: “What moves it?”
plural of “wheel” — a simple machine consisting of a circular frame with spokes (or a solid disc) that can rotate on a shaft or axle (as in vehicles or other machines)
From this reading Another man says the locomotive moves because its wheels go round.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading A third asserts that the cause of its movement lies in the smoke which the wind carries away.
Chapter 39 of War and Peace by Leo, graf Tolstoy holds 453 sentences, grouped into 91 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 39 holds 453 sentences of War and Peace, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of War and Peace by Leo, graf Tolstoy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 453 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 39 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 War and Peace by Leo, graf Tolstoy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 30326 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2600 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2600, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 6066 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through War and Peace section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of War and Peace 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 War and Peace, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
