Chapter 3 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych. “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince. His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us. Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another. And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
Chapter 3 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 167 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
commonly used or practiced; usual
From this reading “His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.”
a very troublesome child
From this reading “His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading “His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.”
a fortified defensive structure
From this reading ““About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.”
characteristic of or befitting a friend
From this reading ““About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.”
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading “His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.”
having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention
From this reading “And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.”
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading “His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.”
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 “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
commonly used or practiced; usual
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
a very troublesome child
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
a fortified defensive structure
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
characteristic of or befitting a friend
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
above and across; more than
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign (especially the son of a sovereign)
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
a male human offspring
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention
From this reading And, indeed, Grigori Aleksandrovich and I spoiled him.
express in words
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
a special situation
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “About six versts from the fortress there lived a certain ‘friendly’ prince.
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading His son, a brat of about fifteen, was accustomed to ride over to visit us.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Not a day passed but he would come, now for one thing, now for another.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “WELL, then, I’ll tell you,” said Maksim Maksimych.
Chapter 3 of A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov holds 167 sentences, grouped into 34 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 3 holds 167 sentences of A Hero of Our Time, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 167 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 3 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 A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4100 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #913 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #913, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 341 minutes of reading across 820 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Hero of Our Time section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of A Hero of Our Time 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 A Hero of Our Time, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
