Chapter 19 of Gargoyles is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of Gargoyles is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The information had cured him. He had been despising himself for letting her go. Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her. It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life. Her marrying vindicated his own virtue.
Chapter 19 of Gargoyles is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
freed from illness or injury
From this reading “The information had cured him.”
despicably cowardly
From this reading “It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.”
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading “It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.”
a feeling of scornful hatred
From this reading “He had been despising himself for letting her go.”
-ing form of “marry” — take in marriage
From this reading “It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.”
make believe with the intent to deceive
From this reading “Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.”
part with a possession or right
From this reading “Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.”
freed from any question of guilt
From this reading “Her marrying vindicated his own virtue.”
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.
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 It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
freed from illness or injury
From this reading The information had cured him.
despicably cowardly
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
a feeling of scornful hatred
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The information had cured him.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The information had cured him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Her marrying vindicated his own virtue.
a message received and understood
From this reading The information had cured him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
property that is leased or rented out or let
From this reading He had been despising himself for letting her go.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
-ing form of “marry” — take in marriage
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading Her marrying vindicated his own virtue.
make believe with the intent to deceive
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
keep from happening or arising; make impossible
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
part with a possession or right
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The information had cured him.
a special situation
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
freed from any question of guilt
From this reading Her marrying vindicated his own virtue.
Moral excellence and goodness of character; the highest human attainment in Stoic philosophy.
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Now he was able to pretend that he had been forced by her virtue to relinquish her.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would have been a dastardly thing to do--ruin her and prevent her from marrying and living a decent life.
Chapter 19 of Gargoyles by Ben Hecht holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 19 holds 404 sentences of Gargoyles, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of Gargoyles by Ben Hecht exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 19 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 Gargoyles by Ben Hecht on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8277 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38489 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38489, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1656 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Gargoyles section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Gargoyles 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 Gargoyles, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
