Chapter 13 of The City Curious is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The City Curious is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner. At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying: "The fleet has arrived, the fleet has arrived." "The fleet?" asked Smaly. "I haven't seen any sea."
Chapter 13 of The City Curious is here in full — 104 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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 “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
demanding attention
From this reading “At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:”
group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
plural of “wig” — hairpiece covering the head and made of real or synthetic hair
From this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
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 “At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:”
In this reading “At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:”
In this reading “Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.”
In this reading “"I haven't seen any sea."”
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 At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading "I haven't seen any sea."
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading "The fleet has arrived, the fleet has arrived."
third-person singular of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "The fleet?" asked Smaly.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
demanding attention
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "The fleet has arrived, the fleet has arrived."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I haven't seen any sea."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I haven't seen any sea."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
immediately past
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
a particular point in time
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading "I haven't seen any sea."
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "I haven't seen any sea."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading At this moment a crowd of Wigs ran in at the door crying:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
plural of “wig” — hairpiece covering the head and made of real or synthetic hair
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech with the Prisoner.
Chapter 13 of The City Curious by Jean de Boschère holds 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 13 holds 104 sentences of The City Curious, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The City Curious by Jean de Boschère exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 104 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 13 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.
