Chapter 138 of Les Misérables is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter CXXXVIII
Chapter 138 of Les Misérables is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A few words more. We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man. We salute the man who kneels. A faith; this is a necessity for man. Woe to him who believes nothing.
Chapter 138 of Les Misérables is here in full — 44 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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.
third-person singular of “believe” — accept as true; take to be true
From this reading “Woe to him who believes nothing.”
look down on with disdain
From this reading “We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.”
unpleasantly stern
From this reading “We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.”
plural of “intrigue” — a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends
From this reading “We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.”
propose a toast to
From this reading “We salute the man who kneels.”
being the most concentrated solution possible at a given temperature; unable to dissolve still more of a substance
From this reading “We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.”
not eternal
From this reading “We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.”
misery resulting from affliction
From this reading “Woe to him who believes nothing.”
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 “A few words more.”
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 few words more.
third-person singular of “believe” — accept as true; take to be true
From this reading Woe to him who believes nothing.
put or pin the blame on
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
look down on with disdain
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
to or in any or all places
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
From this reading A faith; this is a necessity for man.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading A few words more.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A faith; this is a necessity for man.
unpleasantly stern
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Woe to him who believes nothing.
a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
plural of “intrigue” — a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We salute the man who kneels.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading A few words more.
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading A faith; this is a necessity for man.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Woe to him who believes nothing.
propose a toast to
From this reading We salute the man who kneels.
being the most concentrated solution possible at a given temperature; unable to dissolve still more of a substance
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
not eternal
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading A faith; this is a necessity for man.
having intellectual depth
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Woe to him who believes nothing.
in the direction of
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
at the time that
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
which person or people
From this reading We salute the man who kneels.
in the company of; together with
From this reading We blame the church when she is saturated with intrigues, we despise the spiritual which is harsh toward the temporal; but we everywhere honor the thoughtful man.
misery resulting from affliction
From this reading Woe to him who believes nothing.
the words that are spoken
From this reading A few words more.
Chapter 138 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo holds 44 sentences, grouped into 9 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 138 holds 44 sentences of Les Misérables, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 138 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 44 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 138 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 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Les Misérables section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Les Misérables 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 Les Misérables, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
