Chapter 9 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall. The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes. “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I. “Yes,” answered the spirit. “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
Chapter 9 of In Both Worlds is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading “Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.”
formed or developed from something else; not original
From this reading ““He derived it from me a few moments ago.”
a magician or sorcerer of ancient times
From this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
one of the twelve Apostles (first century)
From this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
From this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
poorly articulated or enunciated, or drowned by noise
From this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
past form of “unroll” — reverse the winding or twisting of
From this reading “Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.”
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 “Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.”
In this reading ““He derived it from me a few moments ago.”
In this reading “Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.”
In this reading ““He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.”
undergo or live through a difficult experience
In this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
In this reading “The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.”
In this reading “Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.”
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 Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
in the past
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “Yes,” answered the spirit.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
formed or developed from something else; not original
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
a magician or sorcerer of ancient times
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
plural of “moment” — a particular point in time
From this reading “He derived it from me a few moments ago.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a sudden uncontrollable attack
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
one of the twelve Apostles (first century)
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “He seems to be in a paroxysm of rage,” said I.
poorly articulated or enunciated, or drowned by noise
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
past form of “unroll” — reverse the winding or twisting of
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The spirit went through sundry unintelligible incantations: and slowly the perfect portrait of Simon Magus appeared before our eyes.
a Caucasian
From this reading Thereupon his servant unrolled a great white curtain against the wall.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes,” answered the spirit.
Chapter 9 of In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe holds 387 sentences, grouped into 78 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 9 holds 387 sentences of In Both Worlds, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 387 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 9 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 In Both Worlds by William H. (William Henry) Holcombe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5630 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36342 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36342, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 469 minutes of reading across 1126 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through In Both Worlds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of In Both Worlds 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 In Both Worlds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
