Chapter 24 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 107 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 107 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MASTER JACQUES. Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital. The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops. "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture. "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
Chapter 24 of Balsamo, the Magician is here in full — 107 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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 “building” — a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading “"Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.”
any large and important church
From this reading “The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.”
informal terms for a (young) woman
From this reading “The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.”
plural of “evil” — morally objectionable behavior
From this reading “"Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.”
an arm of a sea or ocean partly enclosed by land; larger than a bay
From this reading “"Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.”
detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues
From this reading “The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.”
a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
From this reading “"Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.”
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading “The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.”
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.
a teenager or a young adult male
In this reading “The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.”
In this reading “"Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.”
In this reading “"Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.”
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 "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
plural of “building” — a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
any large and important church
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.
informal terms for a (young) woman
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
to come or go into
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
plural of “evil” — morally objectionable behavior
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
a man of refinement
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
an arm of a sea or ocean partly enclosed by land; larger than a bay
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MASTER JACQUES.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading MASTER JACQUES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
a large body of water constituting a principal part of the hydrosphere
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
above and across; more than
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.
detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
From this reading "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Before the day was over the pair could enter the capital.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Oh, Paris!" he cried with rapture.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, Paris, a mass of buildings, a gulf of evils," said the old gentleman.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading The young man's heart beat as he perceived Notre Dame Cathedral towers and the ocean of housetops.
Chapter 24 of Balsamo, the Magician by Alexandre Dumas holds 107 sentences, grouped into 22 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 24 holds 107 sentences of Balsamo, the Magician, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of Balsamo, the Magician by Alexandre Dumas exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 107 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 24 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.
