Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
Much Darker Days
Much Darker Days

Chapter IX

Cover illustration for Much Darker Days
Context Illustration Reading 1/9 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!
Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!
Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.
We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.
The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Much Darker Days

Chapter IX

Reading 1/9 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!
Line 2
Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!
Line 3
Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.
Line 4
We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.
Line 5
The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Being auxiliary verb US /ˈbiːɪŋ/

the -ing form of “be”

From this reading “We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.”

Every determiner US /ˈevəri/

all the members of a group, with none left out

From this reading “Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.”

Everything pronoun US /ˈevriθɪŋ/

all things; all of a situation

From this reading “We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.”

Wonderful noun US /ˈwonderful/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading “GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!”

All words in this reading · 47

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

Alhambra

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!

always

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

beingauxiliary verbUS /ˈbiːɪŋ/

the -ing form of “be”

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

byprepositionUS /baɪ/

showing who or what does the action

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

called

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

children

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

Cuadrado

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!

de

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!

everydeterminerUS /ˈevəri/

all the members of a group, with none left out

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

everythingpronounUS /ˈevriθɪŋ/

all things; all of a situation

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

foyer

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

fragrant

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

full

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

GLORIOUS

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!

happy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

house

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

Leicestero

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!

Magical

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Magical Cuadrado de Leicestero!

named

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

names

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

night

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

oranges

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

patio

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

peel

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

perfume

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

perilous

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

perpetually

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

Philippa

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

played

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

public

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

space

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

Spaniards

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

Spanish

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

sucking

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

WepronounUS /wiː/

the speaker together with one or more other people

From this reading We called everything by Spanish names, and played perpetually at being Spaniards.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading Philippa and I were as happy as children, and the house was full every night.

whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/

used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading The _foyer_ we named a _patio_--a space fragrant with the perfume of oranges, which the public were always sucking, and perilous with peel.

wonderfulnounUS /ˈwonderful/

a story-specific word describing an important person, object, action, or idea in this passage

From this reading GLORIOUS, wonderful Alhambra!