Chapter 18 of Metropolis is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Metropolis is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog. She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping. From where did the water come? It came silently. It did not splash.
Chapter 18 of Metropolis is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
possessive form of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
feel about uncertainly or blindly
From this reading “She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.”
acting with uncertainty or hesitance or lack of confidence
From this reading “She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.”
an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading “Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.”
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading “Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.”
without speaking
From this reading “It came silently.”
cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force
From this reading “It did not splash.”
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading “Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.”
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.
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 Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
possessive form of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading It came silently.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading From where did the water come?
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading From where did the water come?
a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From where did the water come?
feel about uncertainly or blindly
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
acting with uncertainty or hesitance or lack of confidence
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It did not splash.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
without speaking
From this reading It came silently.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force
From this reading It did not splash.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading Maria felt something licking at her feet, like the tongue of a great, gentle dog.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
in or at the place that
From this reading From where did the water come?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading She bent down to fumble for the animal’s head, and felt that it was water into which she was groping.
Chapter 18 of Metropolis by Thea von Harbou holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 18 holds 173 sentences of Metropolis, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Metropolis by Thea von Harbou exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 18 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 Metropolis by Thea von Harbou on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6191 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73727 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73727, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 515 minutes of reading across 1239 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Metropolis section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Metropolis 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 Metropolis, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
