Chapter 15 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Pooh, my boy! A little moralizing breaks no bones. It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous? You have paid her debts?” “Ja,” said the Baron lamentably.
Chapter 15 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
plural of “bigot” — a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own
From this reading “It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?”
(used in the plural) a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance
From this reading “A little moralizing breaks no bones.”
plural of “break” — some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
From this reading “A little moralizing breaks no bones.”
plural of “debt” — the state of owing something (especially money)
From this reading “You have paid her debts?””
willing to give and share unstintingly
From this reading “It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?”
indulgence in moral pronouncements; the exposition (often superficially) of a particular moral code
From this reading “A little moralizing breaks no bones.”
a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
From this reading “It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?”
moral weakness
From this reading “It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?”
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 A little moralizing breaks no bones.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
a nobleman (in various countries) of varying rank
From this reading “Ja,” said the Baron lamentably.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
plural of “bigot” — a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
(used in the plural) a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance
From this reading A little moralizing breaks no bones.
a youthful male person
From this reading “Pooh, my boy!
plural of “break” — some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
From this reading A little moralizing breaks no bones.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
plural of “debt” — the state of owing something (especially money)
From this reading You have paid her debts?”
willing to give and share unstintingly
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading You have paid her debts?”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ja,” said the Baron lamentably.
in an unfortunate or deplorable manner
From this reading “Ja,” said the Baron lamentably.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A little moralizing breaks no bones.
indulgence in moral pronouncements; the exposition (often superficially) of a particular moral code
From this reading A little moralizing breaks no bones.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Pooh, my boy!
not any; not one
From this reading A little moralizing breaks no bones.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading You have paid her debts?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Pooh, my boy!
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Ja,” said the Baron lamentably.
a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
moral weakness
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is the salt of life to the like of us, as vice is to your bigots.--Come, have you been generous?
Chapter 15 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honoré de Balzac holds 230 sentences, grouped into 46 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 15 holds 230 sentences of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, unabridged, divided into 46 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honoré de Balzac exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 230 sentences, grouped into 46 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 46 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 46 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 15 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 Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honoré de Balzac on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9208 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1660 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1660, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1842 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Scenes from a Courtesan's Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life 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 Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
