Chapter 4 of Broken Butterflies is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Broken Butterflies is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived. A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes. Kikuchi appeared. "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled. "Come in.
Chapter 4 of Broken Butterflies is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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 “cane” — a stick that people can lean on to help them walk
From this reading “A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.”
something that provides access (to get in or get out)
From this reading “A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.”
a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading “A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.”
plural of “hat” — headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading “A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.”
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading “A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.”
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading “A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.”
a particular situation
From this reading “A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.”
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading “A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.”
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.
leave
In this reading “A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.”
In this reading “"We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.”
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 A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Kikuchi appeared.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
plural of “cane” — a stick that people can lean on to help them walk
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Come in.
something that provides access (to get in or get out)
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
plural of “hat” — headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Kikuchi appeared.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
used to form the superlative
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
a particular situation
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading A row of shoes in the entrance of the tea house told them that most of the others had already arrived.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We are nearly all of us here," he smiled.
during the time that
From this reading A flock of maidservants met them, took their hats and canes, waiting while Kent and Kittrick took off their shoes.
Chapter 4 of Broken Butterflies by Henry W. (Henry Walsworth) Kinney holds 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 4 holds 184 sentences of Broken Butterflies, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Broken Butterflies by Henry W. (Henry Walsworth) Kinney exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 4 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 Broken Butterflies by Henry W. (Henry Walsworth) Kinney on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5948 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63625 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63625, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 495 minutes of reading across 1190 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Broken Butterflies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of Broken Butterflies 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 Broken Butterflies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
