Chapter 18 of The Blacksmith's Hammer is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Blacksmith's Hammer is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT. Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly. She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever. She was dressed in white. The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
Chapter 18 of The Blacksmith's Hammer is here in full — 125 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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 suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
From this reading “Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.”
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading “The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:”
an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading “THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT.”
a first-year undergraduate
From this reading “She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.”
small silvery drumfish often mistaken for white perch; found along coasts of United States from New York to Mexico
From this reading “Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.”
plural of “peasant” — a country person
From this reading “THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT.”
in a respectful manner
From this reading “The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:”
communicated in words
From this reading “The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:”
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 “Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.”
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 The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT.
dressed or clothed especially in fine attire; often used in combination
From this reading She was dressed in white.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
an official charged with the care of the horses of princes or nobles
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
at any time
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
a first-year undergraduate
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She was dressed in white.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
small silvery drumfish often mistaken for white perch; found along coasts of United States from New York to Mexico
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
plural of “peasant” — a country person
From this reading THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
in a respectful manner
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading She looked fresher, more beautiful than ever.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
communicated in words
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
close enough to be walked to
From this reading Mademoiselle Plouernel entered the apartment walking slowly.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She was dressed in white.
a Caucasian
From this reading She was dressed in white.
which person or people
From this reading The old equerry bowed respectfully and said to her, who upon seeing him, uttered a cry of surprise:
Chapter 18 of The Blacksmith's Hammer by Eugène Sue holds 125 sentences, grouped into 25 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 18 holds 125 sentences of The Blacksmith's Hammer, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Blacksmith's Hammer by Eugène Sue exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 125 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 18 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 Blacksmith's Hammer by Eugène Sue on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3764 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34987 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34987, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 313 minutes of reading across 753 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Blacksmith's Hammer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Blacksmith's Hammer 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 Blacksmith's Hammer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
