Chapter 8 of The Blunders of a Bashful Man is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Blunders of a Bashful Man is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN. "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!" This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning. The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life. I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
Chapter 8 of The Blunders of a Bashful Man is here in full — 122 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
third-person singular of “enact” — order by virtue of superior authority; decree
From this reading “HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.”
a notable achievement
From this reading “The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.”
inflected form of “flop” — fall loosely
From this reading “I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.”
past form of “indicate” — be a signal for or a symptom of
From this reading “The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.”
extremely annoying or displeasing
From this reading “The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.”
a favorite saying of a sect or political group
From this reading “This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.”
a dramatic or musical entertainment
From this reading “The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.”
a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
From this reading “The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.”
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.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
one who is the object of choice; who is given preference
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
third-person singular of “enact” — order by virtue of superior authority; decree
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
a notable achievement
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
start firing a weapon
From this reading "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!"
inflected form of “flop” — fall loosely
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!"
a male attendant of the bridegroom at a wedding
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
past form of “indicate” — be a signal for or a symptom of
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!"
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
extremely annoying or displeasing
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
a favorite saying of a sect or political group
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I am always finding myself in the frying-pan, and always flopping out into the fire.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "Out of the frying-pan into the fire!"
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
a dramatic or musical entertainment
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
From this reading The performance of the maddening feat indicated in the proverb has been the principal business of my life.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading HE ENACTS THE PART OF GROOMSMAN.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This should have been my chosen motto from the beginning.
Chapter 8 of The Blunders of a Bashful Man by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor holds 122 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 8 holds 122 sentences of The Blunders of a Bashful Man, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Blunders of a Bashful Man by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 122 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 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 Blunders of a Bashful Man by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2563 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20754 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20754, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 213 minutes of reading across 513 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Blunders of a Bashful Man section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Blunders of a Bashful Man 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 Blunders of a Bashful Man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
