Chapter 38 of Martin Chuzzlewit is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter 38 of Martin Chuzzlewit is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments. Then with recovered energy he proceeded: ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down. It is not too late for that. You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
Chapter 38 of Martin Chuzzlewit is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
under a curse
From this reading “‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.”
past form of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading “You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.”
inflected form of “deal” — act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
From this reading “You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.”
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading “‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.”
with honesty
From this reading “You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.”
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading “You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.”
past form of “spare” — refrain from harming
From this reading “You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.”
inflected form of “tread” — put down or press the foot, place the foot
From this reading “‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.”
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 sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
under a curse
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
past form of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
inflected form of “deal” — act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
(physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs
From this reading Then with recovered energy he proceeded:
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is not too late for that.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is not too late for that.
with honesty
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading It is not too late for that.
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
plural of “moment” — a particular point in time
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It is not too late for that.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
past form of “proceed” — continue talking
From this reading Then with recovered energy he proceeded:
freed from illness or injury
From this reading Then with recovered energy he proceeded:
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
past form of “spare” — refrain from harming
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It is not too late for that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then with recovered energy he proceeded:
in or at that place or location
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading It is not too late for that.
inflected form of “tread” — put down or press the foot, place the foot
From this reading ‘But the accursed harvest of our mistaken lives shall be trodden down.
the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He sat down upon a chair as he spoke, and turning away his face, was silent for a few moments.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Then with recovered energy he proceeded:
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You are confronted with this man, you monster there; not to be spared, but to be dealt with justly.
Chapter 38 of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens holds 455 sentences, grouped into 91 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 38 holds 455 sentences of Martin Chuzzlewit, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 38 of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 455 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 38 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 Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 18057 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #968 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #968, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3612 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Martin Chuzzlewit section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Martin Chuzzlewit 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 Martin Chuzzlewit, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
