Chapter 21 of A Romance of the West Indies is here in full — 220 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of A Romance of the West Indies is here in full — 220 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BETRAYAL. The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony. "What do you say?" cried he. "King William knows that I am on this island?" "He knows it.
Chapter 21 of A Romance of the West Indies is here in full — 220 sentences across 44 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
Extreme physical or mental suffering; intense anguish.
From this reading “The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.”
The action of betraying one's country, a group, or a person; breach of trust.
From this reading “THE BETRAYAL.”
a British peer of the highest rank
From this reading “The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.”
only a very short time before
From this reading “The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.”
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading “"King William knows that I am on this island?"”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “"King William knows that I am on this island?"”
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading “"King William knows that I am on this island?"”
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.”
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.
Extreme physical or mental suffering; intense anguish.
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
The action of betraying one's country, a group, or a person; breach of trust.
From this reading THE BETRAYAL.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "What do you say?" cried he.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "What do you say?" cried he.
a British peer of the highest rank
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
only a very short time before
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "He knows it.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
express in words
From this reading "What do you say?" cried he.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BETRAYAL.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The duke could hardly believe what he heard; he looked at his wife in agony.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "King William knows that I am on this island?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "What do you say?" cried he.
Chapter 21 of A Romance of the West Indies by Eugène Sue holds 220 sentences, grouped into 44 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 21 holds 220 sentences of A Romance of the West Indies, unabridged, divided into 44 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of A Romance of the West Indies by Eugène Sue exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 220 sentences, grouped into 44 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 44 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 44 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 21 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 Romance of the West Indies by Eugène Sue on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5528 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29894 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29894, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 460 minutes of reading across 1106 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Romance of the West Indies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of A Romance of the West Indies 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 Romance of the West Indies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
