Chapter 181 of Les Misérables is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter CLXXXI
Chapter 181 of Les Misérables is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash. What will dart out presently? No one knows. The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling. At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
Chapter 181 of Les Misérables is here in full — 67 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
deserving of the highest esteem or admiration
From this reading “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading “What will dart out presently?”
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading “At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.”
realize beforehand
From this reading “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
plural of “shock” — the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
a momentary flash of light
From this reading “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
plural of “start” — the beginning of anything
From this reading “The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.”
suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh
From this reading “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
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 “The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.”
In this reading “The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.”
In this reading “What will dart out presently?”
In this reading “At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.”
In this reading “The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.”
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 The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
deserving of the highest esteem or admiration
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading What will dart out presently?
emanating from God
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
an item inserted in a written record
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
realize beforehand
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading No one knows.
the sound of laughing
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
plural of “mind” — that which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
a particular point in time
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
not any; not one
From this reading No one knows.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading What will dart out presently?
in the near future
From this reading What will dart out presently?
something owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someone
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading At the moment of jest, the serious makes its entry.
plural of “shock” — the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
a momentary flash of light
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
plural of “start” — the beginning of anything
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading The burst of laughter starts from a tender feeling.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What will dart out presently?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading What will dart out presently?
suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh
From this reading The shocks of youthful minds among themselves have this admirable property, that one can never foresee the spark, nor divine the lightning flash.
Chapter 181 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo holds 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 181 holds 67 sentences of Les Misérables, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 181 of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 67 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 181 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.
