Chapter 39 of Flames is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of Flames is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence. Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept. Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm. Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart. The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
Chapter 39 of Flames is here in full — 303 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/60 · 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.
the act of waking
From this reading “AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.”
of metal e.g.
From this reading “Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.”
a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
From this reading “Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.”
unrestrained by convention or morality
From this reading “Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.”
given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol
From this reading “The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.”
Roman Emperor and nephew of Constantine; he restored paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire and destroyed Christian temples but his decision was reversed after his death (331?-363)
From this reading “Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.”
a person who cares for persons or property
From this reading “The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.”
furnishing support and encouragement
From this reading “Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.”
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 Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
Having no one else present.
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
the act of waking
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
of metal e.g.
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
unrestrained by convention or morality
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
operate or control a vehicle
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
a feeling of extreme joy
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
a young female
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
a state of high honor
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
someone employed to conduct others
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
a collection of objects laid on top of each other
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
the quality of being humane
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
Roman Emperor and nephew of Constantine; he restored paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire and destroyed Christian temples but his decision was reversed after his death (331?-363)
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
above and across; more than
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
a person who cares for persons or property
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading Exultation shone in her eyes and beat in her heart.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading Julian, a crumpled heap of degraded humanity, slept.
furnishing support and encouragement
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The glory of being alone with this drunken creature, his protector, his guide, lay round the girl like a glory of heaven.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading AN AWAKENING That drive in the night was taken in silence.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Cuckoo watched over him, half supporting him with one thin arm.
Chapter 39 of Flames by Robert Hichens holds 303 sentences, grouped into 61 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 39 holds 303 sentences of Flames, unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of Flames by Robert Hichens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 303 sentences, grouped into 61 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 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 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 39 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 Flames by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12894 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14253 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14253, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2579 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Flames section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Flames 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 Flames, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
