Chapter 12 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman. So much was clear. His back was against the light. He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy. The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
Chapter 12 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 166 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby
From this reading “THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.”
plural of “bow” — a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading “THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.”
a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers
From this reading “He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.”
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading “He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.”
lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
From this reading “The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.”
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading “He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.”
showing sorrow
From this reading “THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.”
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading “He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.”
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 THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading His back was against the light.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading His back was against the light.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
plural of “bow” — a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
rid of obstructions
From this reading So much was clear.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
a man of refinement
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
a young female
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His back was against the light.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading His back was against the light.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading So much was clear.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
not any; not one
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
above and across; more than
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So much was clear.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
showing sorrow
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The dead girl must be lying with her head in his lap.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading THE GENTLEMAN BOWS I The man was babbling French and weeping; weeping over a dead woman.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading He wore no hat; and here and there a hair caught the sun and flashed like the sword of a fairy.
Chapter 12 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea by Alfred Ollivant holds 166 sentences, grouped into 34 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 12 holds 166 sentences of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea by Alfred Ollivant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 166 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 12 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.
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Yes. All 8871 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8396 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8396, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1775 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea 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 Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
