Chapter 1 of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean is here in full — 181 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean is here in full — 181 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LES MISÉRABLES. VICTOR HUGO. PART FIFTH. JEAN VALJEAN. AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
Chapter 1 of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean is here in full — 181 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
endowed with authority
From this reading “AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.”
a quantity of liquor equal to one fifth of a United States gallon
From this reading “PART FIFTH.”
French poet and novelist and dramatist; leader of the romantic movement in France (1802-1885)
From this reading “VICTOR HUGO.”
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading “JEAN VALJEAN.”
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading “AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.”
plural of “le” — a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
From this reading “LES MISÉRABLES.”
a written communication in a second language having the same meaning as the written communication in a first language
From this reading “AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.”
a combatant who is able to defeat rivals
From this reading “VICTOR HUGO.”
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.
endowed with authority
From this reading AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
a quantity of liquor equal to one fifth of a United States gallon
From this reading PART FIFTH.
French poet and novelist and dramatist; leader of the romantic movement in France (1802-1885)
From this reading VICTOR HUGO.
a coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric
From this reading JEAN VALJEAN.
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
plural of “le” — a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
From this reading LES MISÉRABLES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LES MISÉRABLES.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading PART FIFTH.
a written communication in a second language having the same meaning as the written communication in a first language
From this reading AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JEAN VALJEAN.
a combatant who is able to defeat rivals
From this reading VICTOR HUGO.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY LAWRENCE WRAXALL.
Chapter 1 of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean by Victor Hugo holds 181 sentences, grouped into 37 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 1 holds 181 sentences of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean by Victor Hugo exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 181 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 1 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 Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean by Victor Hugo on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5553 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48735 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48735, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 462 minutes of reading across 1111 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean 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 Les Misérables, V. 5/5: Jean Valjean, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
