Chapter 23 of Ravenshoe is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Ravenshoe is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LORD WELTER'S MÉNAGE. There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy. A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be. He might have made a decent member of society, who knows? But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
Chapter 23 of Ravenshoe is here in full — 457 sentences across 92 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.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading “But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.”
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading “He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?”
(comparative and superlative of “early”) more early than; most early
From this reading “But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.”
full of or characterized by humor
From this reading “There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.”
one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)
From this reading “He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?”
reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
From this reading “A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.”
showing lack of careful thought
From this reading “There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.”
a confused multitude of things
From this reading “LORD WELTER'S MÉNAGE.”
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 “But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.”
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 There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
a youthful male person
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
(comparative and superlative of “early”) more early than; most early
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
full of or characterized by humor
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
the quality of being just or fair
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading LORD WELTER'S MÉNAGE.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LORD WELTER'S MÉNAGE.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
showing lack of careful thought
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But to do him justice, he had had everything against him from his earliest childhood.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
a confused multitude of things
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LORD WELTER'S MÉNAGE.
at the time that
From this reading There was a time, a time we have seen, when Lord Welter was a merry, humorous, thoughtless boy.
which person or people
From this reading He might have made a decent member of society, who knows?
in the company of; together with
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading A boy, one would have said, with as little real mischief in him as might be.
Chapter 23 of Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley holds 457 sentences, grouped into 92 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 23 holds 457 sentences of Ravenshoe, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 457 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 23 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 Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12038 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41636 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41636, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2408 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ravenshoe section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Ravenshoe 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 Ravenshoe, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
