Chapter 1 of Christian Mystery is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Christian Mystery is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR. Hear, O prodigy! O Tenderness! O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children! Voltaire.
Chapter 1 of Christian Mystery is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
From this reading “A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.”
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading “O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!”
plural of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!”
a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms
From this reading “A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.”
a large, flat, thin case for carrying loose papers or drawings or maps; usually leather
From this reading “A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.”
the Romance language spoken in Portugal and Brazil
From this reading “A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.”
an unusually gifted or intelligent (young) person; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration
From this reading “Hear, O prodigy!”
French writer who was the embodiment of 18th century Enlightenment (1694-1778)
From this reading “Voltaire.”
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.
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 CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
any of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in China; regarded as dialects of a single language (even though they are mutually unintelligible) because they share an ideographic writing system
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
plural of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
set up or found
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Hear, O prodigy!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
and nothing more
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Hear, O prodigy!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
a large, flat, thin case for carrying loose papers or drawings or maps; usually leather
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
the Romance language spoken in Portugal and Brazil
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
an unusually gifted or intelligent (young) person; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration
From this reading Hear, O prodigy!
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling
From this reading O Tenderness!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.
French writer who was the embodiment of 18th century Enlightenment (1694-1778)
From this reading Voltaire.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading O Mystery!--He has just drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!
Chapter 1 of Christian Mystery by Anonymous holds 146 sentences, grouped into 30 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 1 holds 146 sentences of Christian Mystery, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Christian Mystery by Anonymous exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 146 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 1 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 Christian Mystery by Anonymous on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 146 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40984 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40984, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 12 minutes of reading across 30 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Christian Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of Christian Mystery 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 Christian Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
