Chapter 1 of Revolving Lights is here in full — 1314 sentences across 263 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Revolving Lights is here in full — 1314 sentences across 263 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs. Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed. If they would take time to realise it. No one takes time. No one knows it....
Chapter 1 of Revolving Lights is here in full — 1314 sentences across 263 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/262 · 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.
a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
(of a number) having a fixed and unchanging value
From this reading “Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.”
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
in motion
From this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading “If they would take time to realise it.”
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading “No one takes time.”
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 “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
In this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
cause to move into the opposite direction
In this reading “The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
(of a number) having a fixed and unchanging value
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading No one knows it....
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
in motion
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
not any; not one
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
carry out
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading No one takes time.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
which person or people
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading The building of the large hall had been brought about by people who gave no thought to the wonder of moving from one space to another and up and down stairs.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading If they would take time to realise it.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet this wonder was more to them than all the things on which their thoughts were fixed.
Chapter 1 of Revolving Lights by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson holds 1314 sentences, grouped into 263 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 1 holds 1314 sentences of Revolving Lights, unabridged, divided into 263 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Revolving Lights by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 1314 sentences, grouped into 263 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 263 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 263 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 Revolving Lights by Dorothy M. (Dorothy Miller) Richardson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3876 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62967 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62967, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 323 minutes of reading across 776 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Revolving Lights section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Revolving Lights 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 Revolving Lights, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
