Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines

Chapter V · Our March into the Desert

CHAPTER V.

Our March into the Desert, section 1: We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a c
Context Illustration Reading 1/47 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.
It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.
I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.
The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.
As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

King Solomon's Mines

Chapter V · Our March into the Desert

Reading 1/47 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.
Line 2
It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.
Line 3
I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.
Line 4
The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.
Line 5
As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

killed verb US /kɪld/

past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly

From this reading “We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.”

Collocations
We hadA source-grounded phrase from this reading.
had killedA source-grounded phrase from this reading.
All words in this reading · 84

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

andeterminerUS /æn/

the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

ant-bear

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

assegai

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

averaging

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

better

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

betweenprepositionUS /bɪˈtwiːn/

in the space, time, or range separating two things

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

broughtnounUS /ˈbrought/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

bull

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

buried

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

bury

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

camp

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

carefully

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

conspicuous

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

couldmodal verbUS /kʊd/

the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

cut

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

days

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/

the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

elephants

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

fifty

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

finenounUS /fine/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

forty

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

greatnounUS /great/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

havingauxiliary verbUS /ˈhævɪŋ/

the -ing form of “have”

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

himpronounUS /hɪm/

the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

himselfpronounUS /hɪmˈself/

used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

hole

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

hundred

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

intoprepositionUS /ˈɪntuː/

moving to the inside of something

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

ivory

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

journeynounUS /ˈjourney/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

judge

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

Khiva

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

killedverbUS /kɪld/

past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

large

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

lot

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

made

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

mark

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

miles

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

nearly

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

nevernounUS /never/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

nine

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

onprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

out

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

pair

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

poornounUS /poor/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

pounds

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

protect

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

remainednounUS /ˈremained/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

round

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

sand

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

saw

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

scaled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

seventy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

thempronounUS /ðem/

the people or things already mentioned, as the object

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

together

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

tooknounUS /took/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

tree

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

tusk

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

tusks

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

two

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

underprepositionUS /ˈʌndər/

below or beneath something; less than

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

uspronounUS /ʌs/

the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

WepronounUS /wiː/

the speaker together with one or more other people

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

whatpronounUS /wʌt/

used to ask for information about something

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/

used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned

From this reading We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and having brought them into camp, to bury them carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

wonderfully

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It was a wonderfully fine lot of ivory.

world

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better world.

Chapter Quiz

What is the central narrative or theme conveyed in this section of Chapter 05?

Which core linguistic virtue or character attribute is emphasized in this passage?

According to the text: "CHAPTER V....", what tone does the author establish?

Shadowing Practice

Narrator: CHAPTER V.
Narrator: reflected that, after all, our subsequent extinction would be no affair