Chapter XXIX of The City of Pleasure, “Mr. Jetsam’s Recital,” is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXIX of The City of Pleasure, “Mr. Jetsam’s Recital,” is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room. “We shall be more at ease there.” “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice. “This old woman shall hear my tale. I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
Chapter XXIX of The City of Pleasure, “Mr. Jetsam’s Recital,” is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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 quantity of money
From this reading “We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.”
on a floor below
From this reading “We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.”
move gently or carefully
From this reading ““We shall be more at ease there.””
a brief written record
From this reading ““No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.”
a strong feeling or emotion
From this reading ““No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.”
the state of being present; current existence
From this reading “I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.””
past form of “restore” — return to its original or usable and functioning condition
From this reading “We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.”
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 ““This old woman shall hear my tale.”
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 “We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.”
In this reading “We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.”
a woman who is old
In this reading ““This old woman shall hear my tale.”
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 We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
a quantity of money
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
the past participle of “be”
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
a wide shallow inlet of the Arafura Sea in northern Australia
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
on a floor below
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
move gently or carefully
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading “This old woman shall hear my tale.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
the part of a ship's equipment or cargo that is thrown overboard to lighten the load in a storm
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “This old woman shall hear my tale.
not any; not one
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
a brief written record
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading “This old woman shall hear my tale.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
a strong feeling or emotion
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
the state of being present; current existence
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
past form of “restore” — return to its original or usable and functioning condition
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
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 “This old woman shall hear my tale.
express in words
From this reading I tell it in her presence, or I tell it not at all.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “We shall be more at ease there.”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “This old woman shall hear my tale.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “No,” cried Jetsam, and there was a note of passion in his voice.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
at the time that
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading We will go downstairs,” said Carpentaria, when a certain amount of order had been restored to the room.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “This old woman shall hear my tale.
Chapter 29 of The City of Pleasure by Arnold Bennett holds 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 29 holds 265 sentences of The City of Pleasure, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of The City of Pleasure by Arnold Bennett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 29 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 of Pleasure by Arnold Bennett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4827 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55115 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55115, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 402 minutes of reading across 966 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City of Pleasure section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of The City of Pleasure 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 of Pleasure, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
