Chapter 17 of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure is here in full — 27 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure is here in full — 27 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees. Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop. I shook myself and stretched. “Great Scott!” I exclaimed, “that was a nap!”
Chapter 17 of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure is here in full — 27 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/5 · 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 feeling of profound love and admiration
From this reading “ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.”
a farm building for housing poultry
From this reading “Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.”
hound or harry relentlessly
From this reading “Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.”
a first-year undergraduate
From this reading “ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.”
comparative of “keen” — having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading “ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.”
a period of time spent sleeping
From this reading “I exclaimed, “that was a nap!””
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading “ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.”
deeply or completely
From this reading “Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.”
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.
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 Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
a feeling of profound love and admiration
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
anew
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I shook myself and stretched.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
in a state of sleep
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
a farm building for housing poultry
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading I exclaimed, “that was a nap!”
hound or harry relentlessly
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
a first-year undergraduate
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “Great Scott!”
in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
comparative of “keen” — having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I shook myself and stretched.
a period of time spent sleeping
From this reading I exclaimed, “that was a nap!”
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
award-winning United States film actor (1928-1999)
From this reading “Great Scott!”
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
in an aggressive manner
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading I shook myself and stretched.
deeply or completely
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail
From this reading Asleep one second as soundly as a hibernating squirrel, I was as sharply awake the next as a ferret in a coop.
(of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching
From this reading I shook myself and stretched.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I exclaimed, “that was a nap!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
plural of “tip” — the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
having come into contact
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
at the time that
From this reading ADORATION SCORNED Nothing was fresher nor keener than I when again the sun touched the tips of the trees.
Chapter 17 of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure by Philip Verrill Mighels holds 27 sentences, grouped into 6 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 17 holds 27 sentences of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure, unabridged, divided into 6 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure by Philip Verrill Mighels exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 27 sentences, grouped into 6 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 6 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 6 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 17 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 Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure by Philip Verrill Mighels on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3849 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60860 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60860, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 320 minutes of reading across 770 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure 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 Crystal Sceptre: A Story of Adventure, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
