Chapter 23 of Fashion and Famine is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Fashion and Famine is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE THREE OLD WOMEN. Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain? Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again. "How do you do, madam? Anything in my way?
Chapter 23 of Fashion and Famine is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/50 · 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.
causing a dull and steady pain
From this reading “Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?”
a coffin along with its stand
From this reading “Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.”
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?”
make full, also in a metaphorical sense
From this reading “Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.”
brought together in one place
From this reading “Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?”
a form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
From this reading “Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?”
a woman of refinement
From this reading “"How do you do, madam?”
come together
From this reading “Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.”
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.
a woman who is old
In this reading “THE THREE OLD WOMEN.”
In this reading “Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.”
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.
causing a dull and steady pain
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
anew
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
any thing at all
From this reading Anything in my way?
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
a coffin along with its stand
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "How do you do, madam?
make full, also in a metaphorical sense
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
brought together in one place
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
a form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How do you do, madam?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Anything in my way?
a woman of refinement
From this reading "How do you do, madam?
come together
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Anything in my way?
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading THE THREE OLD WOMEN.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading Death must fill another bier, Before we three shall meet again.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE THREE OLD WOMEN.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading THE THREE OLD WOMEN.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Anything in my way?
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Why have we three gathered here, With aching hearts and aching brain?
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading THE THREE OLD WOMEN.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How do you do, madam?
Chapter 23 of Fashion and Famine by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens holds 250 sentences, grouped into 50 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 23 holds 250 sentences of Fashion and Famine, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Fashion and Famine by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 250 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 23 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 Fashion and Famine by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7456 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40114 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40114, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1492 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Fashion and Famine section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Fashion and Famine 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 Fashion and Famine, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
