Chapter 13 of The Downfall is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The Downfall is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more. “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!” And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her. “But why do you stay here?” Both the women remained, however.
Chapter 13 of The Downfall is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
move towards
From this reading “Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.”
put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading “Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.”
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading “And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.”
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading “Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.”
provoking horror
From this reading ““Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!””
an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range
From this reading “Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.”
lengthen or extend in duration or space
From this reading “And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.”
an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
From this reading “Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
move towards
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
the two together, not just one
From this reading Both the women remained, however.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
provoking horror
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
used to add a contrasting statement
From this reading Both the women remained, however.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
not any; not one
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Both the women remained, however.
cut with a saw
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
lengthen or extend in duration or space
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!”
an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
at the time that
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
in the company of; together with
From this reading Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering steel, could endure no more.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Both the women remained, however.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put forth her arm to sustain her.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “But why do you stay here?”
Chapter 13 of The Downfall by Émile Zola holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 13 holds 416 sentences of The Downfall, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Downfall by Émile Zola exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 13 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 Downfall by Émile Zola on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9053 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13851 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13851, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1811 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Downfall section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Downfall 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 Downfall, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
