Chapter 2 of Woman is here in full — 1097 sentences across 220 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Woman is here in full — 1097 sentences across 220 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine. I had been walking and walking.... I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels. I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut. Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
Chapter 2 of Woman is here in full — 1097 sentences across 220 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/219 · 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.
the center of the Earth
From this reading “I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.”
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading “I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.”
plural of “cut” — a share of the profits
From this reading “I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.”
plural of “mote” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading “Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?”
a source of materials to nourish the body
From this reading “I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.”
covered with or consisting of rust
From this reading “I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.”
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
From this reading “I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.”
pulled or drawn tight
From this reading “I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.”
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 “I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.”
In this reading “I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.”
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 I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I had been walking and walking....
completely unclothed
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I had been walking and walking....
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
brought into existence
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
the center of the Earth
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
covered with brambles and ferns and other undergrowth
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
plural of “cut” — a share of the profits
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music
From this reading Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
the part of the face above the eyes
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I had been walking and walking....
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I had been walking and walking....
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
and nothing more
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
the production of eggs (especially in birds)
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
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 I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
plural of “mote” — (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
From this reading Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
a source of materials to nourish the body
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
a course of conduct
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
covered with or consisting of rust
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Was it the motes dancing in the sunbeams?
pulled or drawn tight
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading I had been walking and walking....
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _BEING BORN_ The sun was beginning to shine.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading I had just left the brambly path which cuts a bed of sand through the forest, laying bare its rusty bowels.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I felt full-fed by the subtle nourishment that space distils, crammed with air, and my forehead seemed drawn taut.
Chapter 2 of Woman by Magdeleine Marx holds 1097 sentences, grouped into 220 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 1097 sentences of Woman, unabridged, divided into 220 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Woman by Magdeleine Marx exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 1097 sentences, grouped into 220 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 220 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 220 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 Woman by Magdeleine Marx on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3724 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33943 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33943, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 310 minutes of reading across 745 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Woman section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Woman 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 Woman, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
