Chapter 4 of Love's Usuries is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Love's Usuries is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"He had cared for her?" "It was a love match. But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles. He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!" There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
Chapter 4 of Love's Usuries is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
From this reading “There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.”
not hurried or forced
From this reading “He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"”
plural of “fig” — a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading “But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.”
possessive form of “lawrence” — 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 “There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.”
the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care; a casual lack of concern
From this reading “There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.”
past form of “perish” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"”
plural of “thistle” — any of numerous plants of the family Compositae and especially of the genera Carduus and Cirsium and Onopordum having prickly-edged leaves
From this reading “But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.”
-ing form of “uproot” — move (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and foreign environment
From this reading “He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"”
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.
any moraceous tree of the tropical genus Ficus; produces a closed pear-shaped receptacle that becomes fleshy and edible when mature
In this reading “He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"”
the middle or central part or point
In this reading “But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.”
a theater in which vaudeville is staged
In this reading “There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.”
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 "It was a love match.
a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
past form of “care” — feel concern or interest
From this reading "He had cared for her?"
not hurried or forced
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
opinion or judgment
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
plural of “fig” — a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "He had cared for her?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "He had cared for her?"
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "He had cared for her?"
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "He had cared for her?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It was a love match.
possessive form of “lawrence” — 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 There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading "It was a love match.
be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
From this reading "It was a love match.
the location of something surrounded by other things
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
not any; not one
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care; a casual lack of concern
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
past form of “perish” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
plural of “thistle” — any of numerous plants of the family Compositae and especially of the genera Carduus and Cirsium and Onopordum having prickly-edged leaves
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
-ing form of “uproot” — move (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and foreign environment
From this reading He was easygoing, hated a smart, so there was no uprooting, and the fig tree perished!"
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "It was a love match.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture
From this reading There were tears in Lawrence's eyes, but he began whistling a music hall air in affectation of nonchalance.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But you can't plant figs in the midst of thistles.
Chapter 4 of Love's Usuries by Louis Creswicke holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 419 sentences of Love's Usuries, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Love's Usuries by Louis Creswicke exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 4 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's Usuries by Louis Creswicke on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2935 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33380 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33380, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 244 minutes of reading across 587 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Love's Usuries section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Love's Usuries 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's Usuries, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
