Chapter 8 of Kophetua the Thirteenth is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Kophetua the Thirteenth is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY. "The which did cause his paine." The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without. There seemed to be something amiss with the lock. Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
Chapter 8 of Kophetua the Thirteenth is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
not functioning properly
From this reading “There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.”
a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder
From this reading “Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.”
plural of “curse” — profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
From this reading “The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.”
in a physically fierce manner
From this reading “Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.”
resembling or characteristic of a phantom
From this reading “The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.”
fasten with a lock
From this reading “There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.”
American Revolutionary leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1731-1814)
From this reading “"The which did cause his paine."”
thrown into a state of agitated confusion; (“rattled” is an informal term)
From this reading “Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.”
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 “The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.”
In this reading “Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.”
In this reading “The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
not functioning properly
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY.
events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
plural of “curse” — profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
the act of escaping physically
From this reading ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
considered likely or probable to happen or arrive
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
in a physically fierce manner
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
resembling or characteristic of a phantom
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY.
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
fasten with a lock
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
the force of workers available
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
a particular point in time
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
on one occasion
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
American Revolutionary leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1731-1814)
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
plural of “prisoner” — a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
thrown into a state of agitated confusion; (“rattled” is an informal term)
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
in or at that place or location
From this reading There seemed to be something amiss with the lock.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Fiercely they rattled the key, and every moment the prisoners expected to hear the bolt fly back.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading "The which did cause his paine."
in the company of; together with
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading The door did not open at once, and Kophetua stood with his arm about his ghostly companion listening to the muttered curses of the men without.
Chapter 8 of Kophetua the Thirteenth by Julian Stafford Corbett holds 165 sentences, grouped into 33 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 8 holds 165 sentences of Kophetua the Thirteenth, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Kophetua the Thirteenth by Julian Stafford Corbett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 165 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 8 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 Kophetua the Thirteenth by Julian Stafford Corbett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4248 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47030 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47030, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 354 minutes of reading across 850 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Kophetua the Thirteenth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Kophetua the Thirteenth 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 Kophetua the Thirteenth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
