Chapter 24 of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MR. L---- TO GENERAL B----. MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks. A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite. A respite! you will exclaim.
Chapter 24 of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
cause to be slowed down or delayed
From this reading “A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.”
not as far along as normal in development
From this reading “MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.”
a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized
From this reading “A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.”
a diplomatic building where ambassadors live or work
From this reading “MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.”
utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “A respite! you will exclaim.”
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.”
religious ministers collectively (especially Presbyterian)
From this reading “MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.”
a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort
From this reading “A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.”
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 few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
in the past
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
From this reading L---- TO GENERAL B----.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
dearly loved
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
cause to be slowed down or delayed
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
not as far along as normal in development
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a diplomatic building where ambassadors live or work
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading A respite! you will exclaim.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
applying to all or most members of a category or group
From this reading L---- TO GENERAL B----.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading L---- TO GENERAL B----.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
religious ministers collectively (especially Presbyterian)
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
a condition requiring relief
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading L---- TO GENERAL B----.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
plural of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
but in spite of that
From this reading A few days ago this delay would have been a terrible disappointment to me; yet now I feel it a respite.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading MY DEAR FRIEND, You need not hurry yourself to come to town on my account, for by this change of ministry my embassy will be delayed some weeks.
Chapter 24 of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 by Maria Edgeworth holds 90 sentences, grouped into 18 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 24 holds 90 sentences of Tales and Novels — Volume 08, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 by Maria Edgeworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 90 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 24 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 Tales and Novels — Volume 08 by Maria Edgeworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7898 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9321 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9321, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1580 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tales and Novels — Volume 08 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Tales and Novels — Volume 08 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 Tales and Novels — Volume 08, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
