Chapter 1 of The Brother of Daphne is here in full — 653 sentences across 131 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Brother of Daphne is here in full — 653 sentences across 131 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair. I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her. "Did you, indeed," I said coldly. My sister nodded dreamily. "Then you lied, darling.
Chapter 1 of The Brother of Daphne is here in full — 653 sentences across 131 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/130 · 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.
lacking warmth of feeling; in a cold, unemotional manner
From this reading “"Did you, indeed," I said coldly.”
any of several ornamental shrubs with shiny mostly evergreen leaves and clusters of small bell-shaped flowers
From this reading “"I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.”
a special loved one
From this reading “"Then you lied, darling.”
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading “"I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.”
staying power
From this reading “I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.”
a German art song of the 19th century for voice and piano
From this reading “"Then you lied, darling.”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “My sister nodded dreamily.”
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading “I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
lacking warmth of feeling; in a cold, unemotional manner
From this reading "Did you, indeed," I said coldly.
any of several ornamental shrubs with shiny mostly evergreen leaves and clusters of small bell-shaped flowers
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
a special loved one
From this reading "Then you lied, darling.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "Did you, indeed," I said coldly.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
in a dreamy manner
From this reading My sister nodded dreamily.
with ease (“easy” is sometimes used informally for “easily”)
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading "Did you, indeed," I said coldly.
departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
staying power
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
a German art song of the 19th century for voice and piano
From this reading "Then you lied, darling.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading My sister nodded dreamily.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading My sister nodded dreamily.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
changing location by moving back and forth
From this reading I stopped swinging my legs and looked at her.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "Then you lied, darling.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Did you, indeed," I said coldly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I said you'd do something," said Daphne, leaning back easily in her long chair.
Chapter 1 of The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates holds 653 sentences, grouped into 131 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 1 holds 653 sentences of The Brother of Daphne, unabridged, divided into 131 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 653 sentences, grouped into 131 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 131 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 131 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 1 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 Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4708 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #748 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #748, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 392 minutes of reading across 942 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Brother of Daphne section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Brother of Daphne 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 Brother of Daphne, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
