Chapter 8 of The City Curious is here in full — 39 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The City Curious is here in full — 39 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner. They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us. He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes. "He is a sailor. "He has been tattooed.
Chapter 8 of The City Curious is here in full — 39 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/7 · 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.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading “Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.”
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading “They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.”
third-person singular of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading “They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.”
a person who is an authority on history and who studies it and writes about it
From this reading “They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.”
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading “He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.”
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.”
any member of a ship's crew
From this reading “"He is a sailor.”
past form of “tattoo” — stain (skin) with indelible color
From this reading “"He has been tattooed.”
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.
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 is a sailor.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
third-person singular of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "He has been tattooed.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
a person who is an authority on history and who studies it and writes about it
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
situated in a particular spot or position
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
any member of a ship's crew
From this reading "He is a sailor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
past form of “tattoo” — stain (skin) with indelible color
From this reading "He has been tattooed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He told it to me himself before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading They read as follows: "THE STORY OF DJORAK "This is what I, the Historian, have been able to discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner, before he came to us.
Chapter 8 of The City Curious by Jean de Boschère holds 39 sentences, grouped into 8 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 39 sentences of The City Curious, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The City Curious by Jean de Boschère exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 39 sentences, grouped into 8 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 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 8 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 City Curious by Jean de Boschère on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1243 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32406 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32406, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 103 minutes of reading across 249 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City Curious section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of The City Curious 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 City Curious, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
