Chapter 1 of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace. Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair. She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh! How imprudent you are! Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
Chapter 1 of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!”
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading “Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.”
plural of “glance” — a quick look
From this reading “Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.”
not prudent or wise
From this reading “How imprudent you are!”
plural of “kiss” — the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
plural of “start” — the beginning of anything
From this reading “She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!”
third-person singular of “utter” — articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading “She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!”
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 Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading How imprudent you are!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
to come or go into
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
plural of “glance” — a quick look
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How imprudent you are!
not prudent or wise
From this reading How imprudent you are!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
plural of “kiss” — the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
not any; not one
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
without a sound
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
with speed
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
cut with a saw
From this reading Don't be afraid; no one saw me.
(of persons) having the torso erect and legs bent with the body supported on the buttocks
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
plural of “start” — the beginning of anything
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mme. de Sallus _in her drawing-room, seated in a corner by the fireplace.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Enter_ Jacques de RANDOL _noiselessly; glances to see that no one is looking, and kisses_ Mme. de Sallus _quickly upon her hair.
third-person singular of “utter” — articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading She starts; utters a faint cry, and turns upon him._ Oh!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading How imprudent you are!
Chapter 1 of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales by Guy de Maupassant holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 404 sentences of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales by Guy de Maupassant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales by Guy de Maupassant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4657 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9161 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9161, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 388 minutes of reading across 932 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales 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 Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
