Chapter 1 of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
VOLUME XII. Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child. He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life. He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice. He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
Chapter 1 of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
From this reading “He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.”
feeling a need to see others suffer
From this reading “He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.”
a person who lives (or is located) near another
From this reading “He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.”
past form of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.”
open and genuine; not deceitful
From this reading “He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.”
move stealthily
From this reading “He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.”
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading “VOLUME XII.”
a man whose wife is dead especially one who has not remarried
From this reading “Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.”
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 Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
a young person of either sex
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
with devotion
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
all through a period, or at some point within it
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
held dear
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
feeling a need to see others suffer
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
joined in matrimony
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
a person who lives (or is located) near another
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
past form of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading He fell in love with a poor neighbor, proposed and was accepted.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
open and genuine; not deceitful
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
move stealthily
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
an impression that something might be the case
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading VOLUME XII.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was a good, honest man, perfectly simple, sincere, without suspicion or malice.
a man whose wife is dead especially one who has not remarried
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Lemonnier had remained a widower with one child.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading He had loved his wife devotedly, with a tender and exalted love, without a slip, during their entire married life.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading VOLUME XII.
Chapter 1 of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 by Guy de Maupassant holds 189 sentences, grouped into 38 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 1 holds 189 sentences of Original Short Stories — Volume 12, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 by Guy de Maupassant exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 189 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 1 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 Original Short Stories — Volume 12 by Guy de Maupassant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1445 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3088 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3088, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 120 minutes of reading across 289 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Original Short Stories — Volume 12 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Original Short Stories — Volume 12 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 Original Short Stories — Volume 12, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
