Chapter 3 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY! On the following day, Quentin awoke very early. An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses. He looked through the balcony window. The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
Chapter 3 of The City of the Discreet is here in full — 155 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading “On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.”
an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditorium
From this reading “He looked through the balcony window.”
the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)
From this reading “An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.”
past form of “glow” — emit a steady even light without flames
From this reading “The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.”
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading “O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!”
past form of “penetrate” — pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance
From this reading “An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.”
belonging to or characteristic of Romanticism or the Romantic Movement in the arts
From this reading “O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!”
an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation
From this reading “An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.”
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 “On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.”
In this reading “The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditorium
From this reading He looked through the balcony window.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
past form of “glow” — emit a steady even light without flames
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked through the balcony window.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked through the balcony window.
lacking brilliance or vitality
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!
past form of “penetrate” — pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
belonging to or characteristic of Romanticism or the Romantic Movement in the arts
From this reading O, ORIENTAL, ROMANTIC CITY!
an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
plural of “sens” — street names for marijuana
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
to a small degree or extent
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The delicate, keen, somewhat lustreless light of morning glowed in the street.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading He looked through the balcony window.
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading An unusual sensation of heat and dryness penetrated his senses.
precisely as stated
From this reading On the following day, Quentin awoke very early.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading He looked through the balcony window.
Chapter 3 of The City of the Discreet by Pío Baroja holds 155 sentences, grouped into 31 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 3 holds 155 sentences of The City of the Discreet, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The City of the Discreet by Pío Baroja exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 155 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 3 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 the Discreet by Pío Baroja on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6657 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56324 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56324, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 554 minutes of reading across 1332 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The City of the Discreet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The City of the Discreet 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 the Discreet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
