Chapter 25 of John Brent is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of John Brent is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days. Life had been strained to its utmost. Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay. The realm must rest. While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
Chapter 25 of John Brent is here in full — 170 sentences across 34 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.
having a debilitating effect
From this reading “Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.”
the state of being of noble birth
From this reading “NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.”
force somebody to do something
From this reading “NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.”
a domain in which something is dominant
From this reading “The realm must rest.”
tending to impart new life and vigor to
From this reading “While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.”
lacking natural ease
From this reading “Life had been strained to its utmost.”
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading “NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.”
plural of “tax” — charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government
From this reading “Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.”
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 “NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
having a debilitating effect
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
in a gradual manner
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
past form of “last” — persist for a specified period of time
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading The realm must rest.
the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
the state of being of noble birth
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
force somebody to do something
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
a domain in which something is dominant
From this reading The realm must rest.
tending to impart new life and vigor to
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading The realm must rest.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
lacking natural ease
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading NOBLESSE OBLIGE Brent’s stupor lasted many days.
plural of “tax” — charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government
From this reading Body, brain, heart, all had had exhausting taxes to pay.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The realm must rest.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity
From this reading Life had been strained to its utmost.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
during the time that
From this reading While his mind slept, Nature was gently renewing him.
Chapter 25 of John Brent by Theodore Winthrop holds 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 25 holds 170 sentences of John Brent, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of John Brent by Theodore Winthrop exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 170 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 25 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 John Brent by Theodore Winthrop on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5312 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73738 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73738, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 442 minutes of reading across 1063 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through John Brent section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of John Brent 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 John Brent, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
