Chapter 2 of When the Owl Cries is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of When the Owl Cries is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited. The click of spurs faded. He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply. Slowly, his sight cleared. The window and its barred landscape returned.
Chapter 2 of When the Owl Cries is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 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.
preventing entry or exit or a course of action
From this reading “The window and its barred landscape returned.”
become glassy; lose clear vision
From this reading “Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.”
of a color similar to that of wood or earth
From this reading “Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.”
move or strike with a noise
From this reading “The click of spurs faded.”
the concentration of attention or energy on something
From this reading “Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.”
past form of “inhale” — draw deep into the lungs in by breathing
From this reading “He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply.”
past form of “shift” — make a shift in or exchange of
From this reading “Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.”
plural of “spur” — a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
From this reading “The click of spurs faded.”
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 click of spurs faded.”
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 Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
tried unsuccessfully
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
preventing entry or exit or a course of action
From this reading The window and its barred landscape returned.
become glassy; lose clear vision
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
of a color similar to that of wood or earth
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply.
rid of objects or obstructions such as e.g. trees and brush
From this reading Slowly, his sight cleared.
move or strike with a noise
From this reading The click of spurs faded.
to a great depth psychologically or emotionally
From this reading He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
having lost freshness or brilliance of color
From this reading The click of spurs faded.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
the concentration of attention or energy on something
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
past form of “inhale” — draw deep into the lungs in by breathing
From this reading He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading The window and its barred landscape returned.
an expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view
From this reading The window and its barred landscape returned.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
located or moved above the surround or above the normal position
From this reading He raised his cigarette and inhaled deeply.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading The window and its barred landscape returned.
cut with a saw
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
past form of “shift” — make a shift in or exchange of
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Slowly, his sight cleared.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Slowly, his sight cleared.
plural of “spur” — a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
From this reading The click of spurs faded.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading Fernando attempted to see Farias walk to the door, but his eyes had shifted out of focus; he saw a brownish blur; he shook himself and waited.
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 The window and its barred landscape returned.
Chapter 2 of When the Owl Cries by Paul Alexander Bartlett holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 425 sentences of When the Owl Cries, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of When the Owl Cries by Paul Alexander Bartlett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 When the Owl Cries by Paul Alexander Bartlett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6192 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40245 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40245, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 516 minutes of reading across 1239 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through When the Owl Cries section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of When the Owl Cries 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 When the Owl Cries, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
