Chapter 40 of The Golden Butterfly is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter 40 of The Golden Butterfly is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Farewell to all my greatness." The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth. He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye. Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined. But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
Chapter 40 of The Golden Butterfly is here in full — 523 sentences across 105 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/104 · 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.
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading “Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.”
possessive form of “beck” — a beckoning gesture
From this reading “The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.”
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading “He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.”
an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
From this reading “But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.”
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading “He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.”
(Bible) the archangel who was the messenger of God
From this reading “Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.”
the property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence
From this reading “"Farewell to all my greatness."”
absolutely still
From this reading “But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.”
(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 “The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.”
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 But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "Farewell to all my greatness."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
possessive form of “beck” — a beckoning gesture
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
the organ of sight
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
an acknowledgment or expression of goodwill at parting
From this reading "Farewell to all my greatness."
given to merry frolicking
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
(Bible) the archangel who was the messenger of God
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
the property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence
From this reading "Farewell to all my greatness."
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
tell false information to for fun
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
immediately past
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Farewell to all my greatness."
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
plural of “newspaper” — a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
absolutely still
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
destroyed physically or morally
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
separate or cause to separate abruptly
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading But he had a rooted dislike to newspapers, and never looked at them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Farewell to all my greatness."
not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money
From this reading The last day of Gilead Beck's wealth.
belonging to which person
From this reading He rose as unconscious of his doom as that frolicsome kid whose destiny brought the tear to Delia's eye.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Had he looked at the papers he would at least have ascertained that Gabriel Cassilis was ruined.
Chapter 40 of The Golden Butterfly by Walter Besant holds 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 40 holds 523 sentences of The Golden Butterfly, unabridged, divided into 105 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of The Golden Butterfly by Walter Besant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 523 sentences, grouped into 105 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 105 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 105 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 40 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 Golden Butterfly by Walter Besant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11914 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43442 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43442, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2383 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Golden Butterfly section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Golden Butterfly 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 Golden Butterfly, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
