Chapter 15 of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France is here in full — 172 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France is here in full — 172 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside. He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention. "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open." He understood in a moment. "St. Gris!"
Chapter 15 of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France is here in full — 172 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
-ing form of “dice” — cut into cubes
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
cause to move by pulling
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
make a break in
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
the Romance language spoken in Portugal and Brazil
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
a mechanical device on a camera that opens and closes to control the time of a photographic exposure
From this reading “"Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."”
make (offspring) by reproduction
From this reading “"Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."”
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading “The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.”
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 He understood in a moment.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
on or to one side
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
-ing form of “dice” — cut into cubes
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
cause to move by pulling
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
Spanish cubist painter (1887-1927)
From this reading "St. Gris!"
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He understood in a moment.
make a break in
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
a particular point in time
From this reading He understood in a moment.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."
the Romance language spoken in Portugal and Brazil
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."
a mechanical device on a camera that opens and closes to control the time of a photographic exposure
From this reading "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."
make (offspring) by reproduction
From this reading "Sire," I said, "the shutter is open."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "St. Gris!"
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
fully apprehended as to purport or meaning or explanation
From this reading He understood in a moment.
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading He might not have taken this well, but that my first word caught his attention.
Chapter 15 of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France by Stanley John Weyman holds 172 sentences, grouped into 35 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 15 holds 172 sentences of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France by Stanley John Weyman exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 172 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 15 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.
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About 340 minutes of reading across 818 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Choose one of the 23 chapters of From the Memoirs of a Minister of France to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in From the Memoirs of a Minister of France, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
