Chapter 1 of Cursed by a Fortune is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Cursed by a Fortune is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn. ________________________________________________________________________ CURSED BY A FORTUNE, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. CHAPTER ONE. "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession." "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
Chapter 1 of Cursed by a Fortune is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “"Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.”
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading “CHAPTER ONE.”
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading “"Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."”
deserving a curse; sometimes used as an intensifier
From this reading “Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.”
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading “"Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."”
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading “"Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “"Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.”
convulsive gasp made while weeping
From this reading “"Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.”
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 “"Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.”
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 Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
deserving a curse; sometimes used as an intensifier
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
immediately past
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cursed by a Fortune, by George Manville Fenn.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
convulsive gasp made while weeping
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Oh, papa!" with a burst of sobbing.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, James; this is my last dying speech and confession."
Chapter 1 of Cursed by a Fortune by George Manville Fenn holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 414 sentences of Cursed by a Fortune, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Cursed by a Fortune by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Cursed by a Fortune by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7228 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34537 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34537, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1446 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cursed by a Fortune section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of Cursed by a Fortune 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 Cursed by a Fortune, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
