Chapter 8 of Droll Stories — Volume 2 is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Droll Stories — Volume 2 is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The rapscallion began to laugh. "Never mind," said he. "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them." "Never, while I live." "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
Chapter 8 of Droll Stories — Volume 2 is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
unrestrained by convention or propriety
From this reading “"I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."”
plural of “breast” — the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
From this reading “"Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.”
plural of “heel” — the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading “"Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.”
a hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses
From this reading “"Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.”
-ing form of “plunge” — thrust or throw into
From this reading “"I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."”
plural of “slough” — necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
From this reading “"I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."”
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading “"Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.”
the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
From this reading “"Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.”
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 "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading The rapscallion began to laugh.
unrestrained by convention or propriety
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
plural of “breast” — the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
all things; all of a situation
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
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 "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Never mind," said he.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
plural of “heel” — the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
a hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
the sound of laughing
From this reading The rapscallion began to laugh.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading "Never, while I live."
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading "Never mind," said he.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading "Never mind," said he.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
-ing form of “plunge” — thrust or throw into
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
From this reading The rapscallion began to laugh.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Never mind," said he.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
plural of “slough” — necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The rapscallion began to laugh.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The rapscallion began to laugh.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
during the time that
From this reading "Never, while I live."
a Caucasian
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I have a means of plunging you into the sloughs of three brazen hussies, as you call them."
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Head and heels you shall go in--with your two feet, two hands, two ivory breasts, and two other things, white as snow--your teeth, your hair, and everything.
Chapter 8 of Droll Stories — Volume 2 by Honoré de Balzac holds 109 sentences, grouped into 22 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 8 holds 109 sentences of Droll Stories — Volume 2, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Droll Stories — Volume 2 by Honoré de Balzac exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 8 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 Droll Stories — Volume 2 by Honoré de Balzac on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1763 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2318 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2318, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 146 minutes of reading across 353 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Droll Stories — Volume 2 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Droll Stories — Volume 2 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 Droll Stories — Volume 2, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
