Chapter 23 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHY THE QUEEN WAITED. A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled. The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob. The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist. The people watched and waited.
Chapter 23 of Taking the Bastile is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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 reactionary politician in the United States (usually from the South)
From this reading “The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.”
past form of “chronicle” — record in chronological order; make a historical record
From this reading “A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.”
past form of “console” — give moral or emotional strength to
From this reading “The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.”
run away quickly
From this reading “The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.”
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading “The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.”
the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after
From this reading “The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.”
past form of “regale” — provide with choice or abundant food or drink
From this reading “The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.”
a city in north central France near Paris; site of the Palace of Versailles that was built by Louis XIV in the 17th century
From this reading “A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.”
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.
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 calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
anew
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
a reactionary politician in the United States (usually from the South)
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
uttered without voice
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
make calm or still
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
past form of “chronicle” — record in chronological order; make a historical record
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
past form of “console” — give moral or emotional strength to
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
run away quickly
From this reading The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
involving the mind or an intellectual process
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
a disorderly crowd of people
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
a privileged class holding hereditary titles
From this reading The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading The people watched and waited.
involving or characteristic of politics or parties or politicians
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
made ready or fit or suitable beforehand
From this reading The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.
a feeling of self-respect and personal worth
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
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 WHY THE QUEEN WAITED.
past form of “regale” — provide with choice or abundant food or drink
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
elude, especially in a baffling way
From this reading The Nobility prepared to flee or to resist.
past form of “succeed” — attain success or reach a desired goal
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
past form of “suffer” — undergo or be subjected to
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHY THE QUEEN WAITED.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
the act of obeying meanly (especially obeying in a humble manner or for unworthy reasons)
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
a city in north central France near Paris; site of the Palace of Versailles that was built by Louis XIV in the 17th century
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading WHY THE QUEEN WAITED.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading The people watched and waited.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading A little calm succeeded at Versailles the political and mental tempests which we have chronicled.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading WHY THE QUEEN WAITED.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The King breathed again: and consoled himself with his regaled popularity for what his Bourbon pride had suffered in truckling to the Paris mob.
Chapter 23 of Taking the Bastile by Alexandre Dumas holds 159 sentences, grouped into 32 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 23 holds 159 sentences of Taking the Bastile, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Taking the Bastile by Alexandre Dumas exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 159 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 23 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.
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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.
