Chapter 15 of Light-Fingered Gentry is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Light-Fingered Gentry is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture. "Delilah!" he cried. "It’s always the same story. Love robs a man of his strength. You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
Chapter 15 of Light-Fingered Gentry is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
(Old Testament) the Philistine mistress of Samson who betrayed him by cutting off his hair and so deprived him of his strength
From this reading “"Delilah!" he cried.”
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.”
third-person singular of “rob” — take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
From this reading “Love robs a man of his strength.”
expressing extreme contempt
From this reading “She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.”
-ing form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading “She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.”
aroused to impatience or anger
From this reading “She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.”
dispose or incline or entice to
From this reading “You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.”
someone who betrays his country by committing treason
From this reading “You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.”
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 “She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.”
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 She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading "It’s always the same story.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Delilah!" he cried.
(Old Testament) the Philistine mistress of Samson who betrayed him by cutting off his hair and so deprived him of his strength
From this reading "Delilah!" he cried.
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It’s always the same story.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
held dear
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
on the contrary
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
third-person singular of “rob” — take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
Identical; not different.
From this reading "It’s always the same story.
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
expressing extreme contempt
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading "It’s always the same story.
-ing form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
the property of being physically or mentally strong
From this reading Love robs a man of his strength.
aroused to impatience or anger
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
dispose or incline or entice to
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "It’s always the same story.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
someone who betrays his country by committing treason
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
the act of using
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading You would use love to tempt me to be a traitor to myself.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading She startled him by suddenly straightening herself and saying, or rather beginning, "If you really loved me——" He, stung with furious anger, made a scornful gesture.
Chapter 15 of Light-Fingered Gentry by David Graham Phillips holds 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 15 holds 408 sentences of Light-Fingered Gentry, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Light-Fingered Gentry by David Graham Phillips exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 15 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 Light-Fingered Gentry by David Graham Phillips on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8149 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48621 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48621, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1630 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Light-Fingered Gentry section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Light-Fingered Gentry 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 Light-Fingered Gentry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
