Chapter 1 of The Crown of Life is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Crown of Life is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days. Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body. We must have another talk before long." Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood. "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
Chapter 1 of The Crown of Life is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 37/37 · 5 reading units · Lines 181–185
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.
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading “Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.”
a game in which jackstones are thrown and picked up in various groups between bounces of a small rubber ball
From this reading “Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.”
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading “Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.”
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading “Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.”
leave undone or leave out
From this reading “Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.”
do something to an excessive degree
From this reading “Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.”
put in the mind of someone
From this reading “"How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"”
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading “Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.”
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 Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
anew
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
in the past
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
past form of “betray” — reveal unintentionally
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
the appearance conveyed by a person's face
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
being ten more than thirty
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
a game in which jackstones are thrown and picked up in various groups between bounces of a small rubber ball
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
leave undone or leave out
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
do something to an excessive degree
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
put in the mind of someone
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
full of trouble
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We must have another talk before long."
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, don't overdo it; don't neglect the body.
a late time of life
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How you remind me of my old friend, forty years ago--forty years ago!"
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading Again Mr. Jacks looked thoughtfully at the keen young face, and his countenance betrayed a troublous mood.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Your father knew Herzen and Bakounine, in the old days.
Chapter 1 of The Crown of Life by George Gissing holds 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 1 holds 185 sentences of The Crown of Life, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Crown of Life by George Gissing exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 1 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 Crown of Life by George Gissing on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7937 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4541 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4541, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1588 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crown of Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Crown of Life 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 Crown of Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
