Chapter 18 of As Other Men Are is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of As Other Men Are is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice. “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind. Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life. A dry, shrivelled leaf before the north-east wind. The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
Chapter 18 of As Other Men Are is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.”
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading “She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.”
to, toward, or in the northeast
From this reading “A dry, shrivelled leaf before the north-east wind.”
a fundamental principle or practice
From this reading “The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.”
without mercy or pity
From this reading “The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.”
possessive form of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
inflected form of “slide” — move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
From this reading “She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.”
possessive form of “wind” — air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
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 “She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.”
In this reading “She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.”
travelling about
In this reading ““You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.”
In this reading ““You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.”
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 She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
From this reading A dry, shrivelled leaf before the north-east wind.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
plural of “give” — the elasticity of something that can be stretched and returns to its original length
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
to a considerable degree
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
to, toward, or in the northeast
From this reading A dry, shrivelled leaf before the north-east wind.
a brief written record
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading Well, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
a fundamental principle or practice
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
without mercy or pity
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
possessive form of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
(used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture
From this reading A dry, shrivelled leaf before the north-east wind.
past form of “sigh” — heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
inflected form of “slide” — move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading She sighed heavily, and a dreary, hopeless note slid into her voice.
(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, I’m like a leaf on a road—the open road of life.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
possessive form of “wind” — air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
of very poor quality or condition
From this reading The wind’s pitiless—devils the wretched leaf from pillar to post, never gives it a second’s rest.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You’ve seen a leaf on the road before the wind.
Chapter 18 of As Other Men Are by Dornford Yates holds 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 18 holds 396 sentences of As Other Men Are, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of As Other Men Are by Dornford Yates exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 18 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 As Other Men Are by Dornford Yates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8010 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65387 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65387, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1602 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through As Other Men Are section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of As Other Men Are 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 As Other Men Are, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
