Chapter 21 of The Fourth Generation is here in full — 386 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Fourth Generation is here in full — 386 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation? Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more? Punishment or Consequence, it matters little which. One thing more happened on this eventful day. It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
Chapter 21 of The Fourth Generation is here in full — 386 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent
From this reading “It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.”
a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
From this reading “Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?”
full of events or incidents
From this reading “One thing more happened on this eventful day.”
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading “It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.”
the act of punishing
From this reading “Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?”
third-person singular of “speak” — express in speech
From this reading “HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?”
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.”
an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
From this reading “HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?”
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 “One thing more happened on this eventful day.”
(New Testament) day at the end of time following Armageddon when God will decree the fates of all individual humans according to the good and evil of their earthly lives
In this reading “HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?”
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 It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
full of events or incidents
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
immediately past
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, it matters little which.
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, it matters little which.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
not any; not one
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
the act of punishing
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
third-person singular of “speak” — express in speech
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading It came in a telegram from the ancestral housekeeper.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
in or at that place or location
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
a special situation
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading One thing more happened on this eventful day.
an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading HE SPEAKS AT LAST Was it really the last day of Visitation?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, it matters little which.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Punishment or Consequence, would there be no more?
Chapter 21 of The Fourth Generation by Walter Besant holds 386 sentences, grouped into 78 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 21 holds 386 sentences of The Fourth Generation, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Fourth Generation by Walter Besant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 386 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 21 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 Fourth Generation by Walter Besant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6592 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50177 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50177, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 549 minutes of reading across 1319 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fourth Generation section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Fourth Generation 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 Fourth Generation, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
