Chapter 31 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper." The Parson was down the ladder in a flash. The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned. "Well, sir?" "You've heard, Piper?"
Chapter 31 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
the formal act of approving
From this reading “THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."”
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading “The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.”
a humming noise
From this reading “The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.”
a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
From this reading “The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.”
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading “The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.”
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.”
someone who plays the bagpipe
From this reading “THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."”
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading “The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.”
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 BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
the formal act of approving
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading "You've heard, Piper?"
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
a humming noise
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
someone who plays the bagpipe
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
term of address for a man
From this reading "Well, sir?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
moved around an axis or center
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading The old foretop-man, humming his hymn in the eternal twilight, turned.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Parson was down the ladder in a flash.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, sir?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading THE BLESSING I "I must have a word with Piper."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You've heard, Piper?"
Chapter 31 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea by Alfred Ollivant holds 243 sentences, grouped into 49 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 31 holds 243 sentences of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea by Alfred Ollivant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 243 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 31 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 Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea by Alfred Ollivant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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.
