Chapter 40 of The cloven foot is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter 40 of The cloven foot is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES. When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence. The world was changed for him. Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born. He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
Chapter 40 of The cloven foot is here in full — 313 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/62 · 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.
income from capital investment paid in a series of regular payments
From this reading “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
marked by assurance; exhibiting confidence
From this reading “Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.”
the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement
From this reading “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
the state or fact of existing
From this reading “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
From this reading “THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.”
the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time
From this reading “Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.”
move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading “He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.”
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 “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
In this reading “THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.”
take possession of
In this reading “When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.”
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 When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
later than; following
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
income from capital investment paid in a series of regular payments
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
marked by assurance; exhibiting confidence
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
brought into existence
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
made or become different in nature or form
From this reading The world was changed for him.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.
to come or go into
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
the state or fact of existing
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The world was changed for him.
pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
From this reading THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.
the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
any distinct time period in a sequence of events
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE HUNT FOR DESROLLES.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The world was changed for him.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Assured of a handsome income, he felt as it were, new born.
at the time that
From this reading When Desrolles left the village under the shadow of Dartmoor, after bargaining for a handsome annuity, he meant to enter upon a new and delightful stage of existence.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading The world was changed for him.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He would rove, butterfly-like, from city to city.
Chapter 40 of The cloven foot by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon holds 313 sentences, grouped into 63 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 40 holds 313 sentences of The cloven foot, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of The cloven foot by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 313 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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 40 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 cloven foot by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9199 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73931 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73931, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1840 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The cloven foot section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The cloven foot 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 cloven foot, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
