Chapter 12 of A London Life, and Other Tales is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of A London Life, and Other Tales is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'So you had. More's the pity. I should like you to begin again.' 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose. She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
Chapter 12 of A London Life, and Other Tales is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 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.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading “I should like you to begin again.'”
the sound of laughing
From this reading “'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.”
a midday meal
From this reading “She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.”
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading “'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.”
come together
From this reading “She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.”
United States jazz musician who influenced the style of Louis Armstrong (1885-1938)
From this reading “'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.”
a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
From this reading “More's the pity.”
sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.”
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 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
anew
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
dearly loved
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
opinion or judgment
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
a boy or man
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading 'So you had.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
the sound of laughing
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
a midday meal
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
come together
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading More's the pity.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
United States jazz musician who influenced the style of Louis Armstrong (1885-1938)
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
From this reading More's the pity.
sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading 'So you had.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading More's the pity.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I should like you to begin again.'
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She did not meet his eyes--she had got up to ring for luncheon.
in the company of; together with
From this reading 'My dear fellow, I shall have to begin again!' said Oliver Lyon with a laugh, looking at Mrs. Capadose.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading 'So you had.
Chapter 12 of A London Life, and Other Tales by Henry James holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 12 holds 426 sentences of A London Life, and Other Tales, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of A London Life, and Other Tales by Henry James exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 12 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 London Life, and Other Tales by Henry James on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5410 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25500 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25500, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 450 minutes of reading across 1082 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A London Life, and Other Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of A London Life, and Other Tales 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 London Life, and Other Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
