Chapter 2 of The Aspirations of Jean Servien is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Aspirations of Jean Servien is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what. Was he in love? He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere. Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim. He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
Chapter 2 of The Aspirations of Jean Servien is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 female actor
From this reading “Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.”
recite in elocution
From this reading “Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.”
an instinctive motive
From this reading “Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.”
Plural of shelf; the vast wooden or stone structures holding archives.
From this reading “He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.”
plural of “verse” — literature in metrical form
From this reading “Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.”
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading “He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.”
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading “He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.”
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading “On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.”
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 He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
a female actor
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
French tragic dramatist whose plays treat grand moral themes in elegant verse (1606-1684)
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
recite in elocution
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
apart from; not including
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
an instinctive motive
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Was he in love?
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading Was he in love?
not any; not one
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
Plural of shelf; the vast wooden or stone structures holding archives.
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
in or at or to some place
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
not in physical motion
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
express in words
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
plural of “verse” — literature in metrical form
From this reading Still, he felt no overmastering impulse, except to read the verses he had heard the actress declaim.
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading He could not tell, but there was a void somewhere.
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was he in love?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading On waking, he gazed about him for something--he knew not what.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He took down from his shelves a volume of Corneille and read through Émilie's part.
Chapter 2 of The Aspirations of Jean Servien by Anatole France holds 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 2 holds 433 sentences of The Aspirations of Jean Servien, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Aspirations of Jean Servien by Anatole France exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 2 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 The Aspirations of Jean Servien by Anatole France on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1729 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11060 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11060, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 144 minutes of reading across 346 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Aspirations of Jean Servien section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Aspirations of Jean Servien 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 The Aspirations of Jean Servien, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
