Chapter 14 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE. At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her. "The very person wanted," cried Jean. "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse." "My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.
Chapter 14 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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 member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa
From this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
aroused to action
From this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
a huntsman who hunts small animals with fast dogs that use sight rather than scent to follow their prey
From this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading “"The very person wanted," cried Jean.”
past form of “question” — challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading “"My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.”
free from harm or evil
From this reading “TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE.”
a state of commotion and noise and confusion
From this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
possessive form of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
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.
the cardinal number that is the product of one hundred and five
In this reading “"Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."”
In this reading “"Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."”
In this reading “At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.”
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 At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
a member of a Semitic people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks Arabic and who inhabits much of the Middle East and northern Africa
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
aroused to action
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading "My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.
a small house with a single story
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
a huntsman who hunts small animals with fast dogs that use sight rather than scent to follow their prey
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "The very person wanted," cried Jean.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading "My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
ten 10s
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading "The very person wanted," cried Jean.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
an amount of time
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
a human being
From this reading "The very person wanted," cried Jean.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
past form of “question” — challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading "My horse?" questioned the lady in bad French.
free from harm or evil
From this reading TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TAVERNEY TO THE RESCUE.
a state of commotion and noise and confusion
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
precisely as stated
From this reading "The very person wanted," cried Jean.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading "The very person wanted," cried Jean.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
possessive form of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading At this period a window in the cottage opened and a lovely woman's face appeared, above the Arabian courser, the uproar having aroused her.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Fair lady, I offer you five hundred pistoles for your horse."
Chapter 14 of Balsamo, the Magician by Alexandre Dumas holds 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 14 holds 98 sentences of Balsamo, the Magician, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Balsamo, the Magician by Alexandre Dumas exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 14 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 Balsamo, the Magician by Alexandre Dumas on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6299 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45822 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45822, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 524 minutes of reading across 1260 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Balsamo, the Magician section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Balsamo, the Magician, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
