Chapter 16 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie. “It makes me long to go to bed.” “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together. I am starving to see a play.” It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
Chapter 16 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 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.
five-toed pachyderm
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
A practitioner of magic and ancient arcane arts, often wielding deception and powerful spells.
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
suffering from lack of food
From this reading “I am starving to see a play.””
a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
From this reading “It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.”
plural of “wonder” — the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading ““Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.”
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 I am starving to see a play.”
later than; following
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
(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 “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am starving to see a play.”
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
five-toed pachyderm
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
having an (over)abundance of flesh
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
and nothing more
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
hear with intention
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
title used for a married Frenchwoman
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
A practitioner of magic and ancient arcane arts, often wielding deception and powerful spells.
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
participate in games or sport
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I am starving to see a play.”
from a time in the past until now
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
suffering from lack of food
From this reading I am starving to see a play.”
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading “Oh, madame, I cannot stay here!” cried Eugenie.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “It makes me long to go to bed.”
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
which person or people
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
plural of “wonder” — the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading “Well,” said Esther, “I mean to please the magician who has worked all these wonders.--Listen, my fat elephant, after dinner we will go to the play together.
a late time of life
From this reading It was just five years since Esther had been to a theatre.
Chapter 16 of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honoré de Balzac holds 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 16 holds 232 sentences of Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 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 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 16 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.
