Chapter 26 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Martin waved an arm across the table. Two wineglasses upset. A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams. Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense.... When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
Chapter 26 of Manhattan Transfer is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 small piece of table linen that is used to wipe the mouth and to cover the lap in order to protect clothing
From this reading “A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.”
-ing form of “notice” — discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading “Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....”
the act of giving a false appearance
From this reading “Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....”
plural of “stream” — a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading “A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.”
plural of “tip” — the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading “When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.”
plural of “tongue” — a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading “When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.”
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading “Two wineglasses upset.”
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading “A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.”
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 “Martin waved an arm across the table.”
In this reading “Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....”
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....”
In this reading “When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.”
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 A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
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 Martin waved an arm across the table.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
set down according to a plan
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
a small piece of table linen that is used to wipe the mouth and to cover the lap in order to protect clothing
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
-ing form of “notice” — discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
above and across; more than
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
the act of giving a false appearance
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
plural of “stream” — a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
plural of “tip” — the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
plural of “tongue” — a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two wineglasses upset.
disturb the balance or stability of
From this reading Two wineglasses upset.
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading A scaredlooking waiter laid a napkin over the red streams.
past form of “wave” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading Martin waved an arm across the table.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
at the time that
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two wineglasses upset.
in the company of; together with
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Without noticing, Martin went on, “It’s all pretense....
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading When you talk you talk with the little lying tips of your tongues.
Chapter 26 of Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 26 holds 400 sentences of Manhattan Transfer, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 26 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 Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Manhattan Transfer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Manhattan Transfer 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 Manhattan Transfer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
