Chapter 8 of The Belfry is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Belfry is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere. He was in it. In it as I wasn't and couldn't be. And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns. The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
Chapter 8 of The Belfry is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
giving or marked by complete attention to
From this reading “In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.”
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading “In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.”
a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field of art or philosophy
From this reading “And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.”
a town in Kent in southeastern England; site of the cathedral where Thomas a Becket was martyred in 1170; seat of the archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church
From this reading “In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.”
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading “In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.”
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading “The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.”
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading “The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.”
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 “And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.”
In this reading “In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.”
anew
In this reading “The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.”
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.
giving or marked by complete attention to
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
anew
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field of art or philosophy
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
a town in Kent in southeastern England; site of the cathedral where Thomas a Becket was martyred in 1170; seat of the archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He was in it.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
above and across; more than
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading The Canon showed him the town all over again all morning.
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading And the next day Canon and Mrs. Thesiger took him in hand by turns.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading In two days he had absorbed the Canterbury atmosphere.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was in it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In it as I wasn't and couldn't be.
Chapter 8 of The Belfry by May Sinclair holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 8 holds 399 sentences of The Belfry, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Belfry by May Sinclair exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 8 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 Belfry by May Sinclair on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Belfry section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Belfry 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 Belfry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
