Chapter 3 of Sons of fire, Vol. III. is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Sons of fire, Vol. III. is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME." Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence. He was not sullen or unkind. He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him. The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
Chapter 3 of Sons of fire, Vol. III. is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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.
characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
From this reading “The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.”
an act that fails
From this reading “Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.”
plural of “fiddle” — bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading “The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.”
depressingly dark
From this reading “Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.”
strong feelings of embarrassment
From this reading “Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.”
expressed without speech
From this reading “The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.”
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading “He was not sullen or unkind.”
lacking kindness
From this reading “He was not sullen or unkind.”
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.
belong to an earlier time
In this reading “Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.”
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 He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
plural of “case” — an occurrence of something
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
the appearance conveyed by a person's face
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
an act that fails
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
plural of “fiddle” — bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
depressingly dark
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
strong feelings of embarrassment
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
expressed without speech
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
not any; not one
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading He was not sullen or unkind.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading He was not sullen or unkind.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He lived; and that was about as much as could be said of him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "IF SHE BE NOT FAIR TO ME."
lacking kindness
From this reading He was not sullen or unkind.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was not sullen or unkind.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The fiddles, which were to him as cherished friends, lay mute in their cases.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Geoffrey Wornock went back to Discombe, and his mother read failure and mortification in his gloomy countenance; but he vouchsafed no confidence.
Chapter 3 of Sons of fire, Vol. III. by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon holds 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 3 holds 153 sentences of Sons of fire, Vol. III., unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Sons of fire, Vol. III. by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 3 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #75175, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 205 minutes of reading across 494 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Sons of fire, Vol. III., each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
