Chapter 22 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXII
Chapter 22 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE PRIVATE COUNCIL. Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont. His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity. His high color had not left him. An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
Chapter 22 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
in a brisk manner
From this reading “Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.”
strikingly different; tending to contrast
From this reading “His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.”
past form of “imbibe” — take in, also metaphorically
From this reading “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
with much noise or loud and unpleasant sound
From this reading “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading “His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.”
the physical property of being stiff and resisting bending
From this reading “His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.”
a person who rises (especially from bed)
From this reading “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
with vigor; in a vigorous manner
From this reading “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
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 “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
In this reading “An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
uttered without voice
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
a slight wind (usually refreshing)
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
in a brisk manner
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
From this reading His high color had not left him.
strikingly different; tending to contrast
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
a body serving in an administrative capacity
From this reading THE PRIVATE COUNCIL.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading His high color had not left him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
active strength of body or mind
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
to a considerable degree
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading His high color had not left him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading His high color had not left him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
past form of “imbibe” — take in, also metaphorically
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading His high color had not left him.
United States prizefighter who was world heavyweight champion for 12 years (1914-1981)
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
with much noise or loud and unpleasant sound
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading His high color had not left him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy
From this reading THE PRIVATE COUNCIL.
feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
the physical property of being stiff and resisting bending
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
a person who rises (especially from bed)
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
with strength or in a strong manner
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE PRIVATE COUNCIL.
with vigor; in a vigorous manner
From this reading An early riser and proud of the heartiness he had imbibed with the morning breeze, he breathed noisily and set his foot vigorously on the floor.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
in the company of; together with
From this reading His manner was busy and curious, strongly contrasting with the Queen's cold rigidity.
an established custom
From this reading Louis entered briskly but heavily as was his wont.
Chapter 22 of Taking the Bastile by Alexandre Dumas holds 189 sentences, grouped into 38 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 22 holds 189 sentences of Taking the Bastile, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 22 of Taking the Bastile by Alexandre Dumas exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 189 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 22 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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Yes. All 4063 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #45424 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #45424, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 338 minutes of reading across 813 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Taking the Bastile section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Taking the Bastile 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 Taking the Bastile, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
