Chapter 1 of The devil downstairs is here in full — 503 sentences across 101 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The devil downstairs is here in full — 503 sentences across 101 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble. Your whole world would go to hell!" And he proved his point. Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer! All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!
Chapter 1 of The devil downstairs is here in full — 503 sentences across 101 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/100 · 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.
show off
From this reading “_This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.”
demanding attention
From this reading “Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!”
possessive form of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “_This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.”
inflected form of “forgive” — stop blaming or grant forgiveness
From this reading “All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!”
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading “Your whole world would go to hell!"”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!”
plural of “mortal” — a human being
From this reading “_This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.”
established beyond doubt
From this reading “And he proved his point.”
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 “Your whole world would go to hell!"”
be restored
In this reading “Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And he proved his point.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
show off
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
demanding attention
From this reading Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
possessive form of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
inflected form of “forgive” — stop blaming or grant forgiveness
From this reading All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And he proved his point.
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading And he proved his point.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading All is forgiven!"_ "Joe!
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 Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading Before long the world was crying: "Come back, Lucifer!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
plural of “mortal” — a human being
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading And he proved his point.
established beyond doubt
From this reading And he proved his point.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
a source of difficulty
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _This was the Devil's boast: "Without me, you mortals would be in trouble.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Your whole world would go to hell!"
Chapter 1 of The devil downstairs by P. F. Costello holds 503 sentences, grouped into 101 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 503 sentences of The devil downstairs, unabridged, divided into 101 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The devil downstairs by P. F. Costello exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 503 sentences, grouped into 101 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 101 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 101 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 devil downstairs by P. F. Costello on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The devil downstairs section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The devil downstairs 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 devil downstairs, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
