Chapter 1 of Love-at-arms is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Love-at-arms is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry. “We are betrayed!” They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls. Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons. He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
Chapter 1 of Love-at-arms is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
a constellation in the Milky Way near Cygnus; contains the star Altair
From this reading “Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.”
(used of persons or the military) characterized by having or bearing arms
From this reading ““Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.”
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading ““We are betrayed!””
uttered without voice
From this reading “He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.””
the quality of being ghastly
From this reading “They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.”
plural of “lord” — terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading ““Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.”
comparative of “mean” — approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value
From this reading “They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.”
plural of “weapon” — any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting
From this reading “Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.”
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 He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
a constellation in the Milky Way near Cygnus; contains the star Altair
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “We are betrayed!”
(used of persons or the military) characterized by having or bearing arms
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading “We are betrayed!”
uttered without voice
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
opinion or judgment
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
the quality of being ghastly
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
plural of “lord” — terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
comparative of “mean” — approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
the force of workers available
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Armed men, my lords!” had been Fanfulla's cry.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
with low volume
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
plural of “soul” — the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He softly breathed a name--“Masuccio Torri.”
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “We are betrayed!”
plural of “weapon” — any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting
From this reading Then Aquila rose slowly to his feet, and with him rose the others, looking to their weapons.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading They looked at one another with stern eyes, and with that grimness that takes the place which fear would hold in meaner souls.
Chapter 1 of Love-at-arms by Rafael Sabatini holds 125 sentences, grouped into 25 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 125 sentences of Love-at-arms, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Love-at-arms by Rafael Sabatini exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 125 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 Love-at-arms by Rafael Sabatini on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4557 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3530 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3530, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 379 minutes of reading across 912 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Love-at-arms section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of Love-at-arms 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 Love-at-arms, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
