Chapter 16 of The Crime of the Boulevard is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Crime of the Boulevard is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay. And he always carried flowers. It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit. The dead are living! They wait, they understand, they listen!
Chapter 16 of The Crime of the Boulevard is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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 tract of land used for burials
From this reading “VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.”
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
From this reading “It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.”
an established custom
From this reading “It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.”
the highest point in Paris; famous for its associations with many artists
From this reading “VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.”
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading “It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.”
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading “VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.”
release, as from one's grip
From this reading “VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.”
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading “It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.”
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 “It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.”
In this reading “VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.”
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 It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
later than; following
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading And he always carried flowers.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And he always carried flowers.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The dead are living!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading And he always carried flowers.
a tract of land used for burials
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading The dead are living!
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading And he always carried flowers.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
an established custom
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And he always carried flowers.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
hear with intention
From this reading They wait, they understand, they listen!
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading The dead are living!
the highest point in Paris; famous for its associations with many artists
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
many times at short intervals
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
a correctional institution where persons are confined while on trial or for punishment
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
release, as from one's grip
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading It had become to him, since the terrible strain of his detention, a necessity, a habit.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They wait, they understand, they listen!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading They wait, they understand, they listen!
precisely as stated
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading They wait, they understand, they listen!
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
in or at the place that
From this reading VERY often, after his release from prison, Jacques Dantin went to the corner of the cemetery at Montmartre, where his friend lay.
Chapter 16 of The Crime of the Boulevard by Jules Claretie holds 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 16 holds 138 sentences of The Crime of the Boulevard, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Crime of the Boulevard by Jules Claretie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 16 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 Crime of the Boulevard by Jules Claretie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3496 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34058 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34058, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 291 minutes of reading across 700 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crime of the Boulevard section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Crime of the Boulevard 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 Crime of the Boulevard, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
