Chapter 20 of Gargoyles is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Gargoyles is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered. Lindstrum nodded. But Doris pulled herself from his hold. She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window. The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
Chapter 20 of Gargoyles is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
(Greek mythology) wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids
From this reading “But Doris pulled herself from his hold.”
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.”
a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading “The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.”
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading “She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.”
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading “The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “Lindstrum nodded.”
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading “But Doris pulled herself from his hold.”
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading “She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.”
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.
In this reading “"We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.”
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 The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
(Greek mythology) wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lindstrum nodded.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading Lindstrum nodded.
above and across; more than
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading But Doris pulled herself from his hold.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
inflected form of “throw” — propel through the air
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The room was dark and the street lights threw a faint glare over her face.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading "We had better get her into bed," Levine whispered.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading She stumbled and fell to her knees before the window.
Chapter 20 of Gargoyles by Ben Hecht holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 20 holds 412 sentences of Gargoyles, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Gargoyles by Ben Hecht exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 20 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.
