Chapter 31 of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour. Ten years! It is a very long time in a life. It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old. It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
Chapter 31 of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
the organic process of bearing flowers
From this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
the lack of knowledge or education
From this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
lacking practical experience or training
From this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
being roughly between 45 and 65 years old
From this reading “It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.”
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area
From this reading “Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.”
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading “Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.”
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
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.
In this reading “Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.”
In this reading “Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.”
a man who is roughly between 45 and 65 years old
In this reading “It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.”
a teenager or a young adult male
In this reading “It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.”
a prolonged period of time
In this reading “It is a very long time in a life.”
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
In this reading “Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.”
look towards one's back
In this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
remove from a certain place, environment, or mental or emotional state; transport into a new location or state
In this reading “It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.”
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 It is a very long time in a life.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
the organic process of bearing flowers
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
the lack of knowledge or education
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It is a very long time in a life.
lacking practical experience or training
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is a very long time in a life.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is a very long time in a life.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading It is a very long time in a life.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
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 It is a very long time in a life.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
being roughly between 45 and 65 years old
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
used to form the superlative
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
not any; not one
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
precisely as stated
From this reading It is a very long time in a life.
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
at the time that
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
during the time that
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
a late time of life
From this reading Ten years had passed away since the time of that wedding tour.
but in spite of that
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading It makes a young man middle-aged, and a middle-aged man old.
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading It takes away the bloom of youth, and the ignorance of the most inexperienced; and yet what a little while it is!--no more than a day when you look back upon it.
Chapter 31 of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant holds 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 31 holds 129 sentences of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 31 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 Widow's Tale, and Other Stories by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9175 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43084 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43084, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1835 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Widow's Tale, and Other Stories 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 Widow's Tale, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
