Chapter 1 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE. A QUEER LEGACY. "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds." He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise. The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
Chapter 1 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 formal public statement
From this reading “He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.”
leave or give by will after one's death
From this reading “"To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."”
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading “The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.”
(law) a gift of personal property by will
From this reading “A QUEER LEGACY.”
someone who lives at a particular place for a prolonged period or who was born there
From this reading “The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.”
put down by force or intimidation
From this reading “He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.”
a quantity of money
From this reading “"To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."”
(usually used in combination) having value of a specified kind
From this reading “"To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."”
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 “"To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."”
In this reading “"To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."”
In this reading “The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.”
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 A QUEER LEGACY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
a formal public statement
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
leave or give by will after one's death
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
set down according to a plan
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
(law) a gift of personal property by will
From this reading A QUEER LEGACY.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
someone who lives at a particular place for a prolonged period or who was born there
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE.
and nothing more
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
plural of “pound” — 16 ounces avoirdupois
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading A QUEER LEGACY.
the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
put down by force or intimidation
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
a quantity of money
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
(usually used in combination) having value of a specified kind
From this reading "To my valued friend, Arthur Claverton, I bequeath the sum of nine thousand pounds."
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The only other occupant of the room paused and laid down the document from which he had been reading.
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He to whom this announcement was made could not repress a start of surprise.
Chapter 1 of The Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 412 sentences of The Fire Trumpet, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13630 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36592 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36592, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2726 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fire Trumpet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Fire Trumpet 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 Fire Trumpet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
