Chapter 20 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard. Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me. A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes. He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice: “I thank you, Pechorin...
Chapter 20 of A Hero of Our Time is here in full — 102 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
a wide street or thoroughfare
From this reading “ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.”
according to the clock
detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues
From this reading “Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.”
a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
From this reading “A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.”
inspiring scornful pity
From this reading “A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.”
marked by exceptional merit
From this reading “A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.”
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading “He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:”
in a hearty manner
From this reading “He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:”
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 Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
a wide street or thoroughfare
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
opinion or judgment
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
according to the clock
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I thank you, Pechorin...
detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
compacted by ironing
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
inspiring scornful pity
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
marked by exceptional merit
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading A sort of ridiculous rapture was shining in his eyes.
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “I thank you, Pechorin...
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
close enough to be walked to
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
in a hearty manner
From this reading He pressed my hand warmly, and said in a tragic voice:
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ABOUT seven o’clock in the evening, I was walking on the boulevard.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Grushnitski perceived me a long way off, and came up to me.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I thank you, Pechorin...
Chapter 20 of A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov holds 102 sentences, grouped into 21 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 20 holds 102 sentences of A Hero of Our Time, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 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 102 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 20 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.
