Chapter 8 of The Idyl of Twin Fires is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Idyl of Twin Fires is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms. "No work for you to-day," said I. "You will just have to pick out colours for me. The painters are coming." I spoke as if we were old friends.
Chapter 8 of The Idyl of Twin Fires is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 distinguishing emblem
From this reading “"You will just have to pick out colours for me.”
past form of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
make a painting
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
plural of “painter” — an artist who paints
From this reading “The painters are coming."”
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
a person who owns something
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
in a rueful manner
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
hurting
From this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
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 “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
In this reading “I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.”
In this reading “I spoke as if we were old friends.”
pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
In this reading “"You will just have to pick out colours for me.”
In this reading “"No work for you to-day," said I.”
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 I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The painters are coming."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
a distinguishing emblem
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading The painters are coming."
past form of “confront” — oppose, as in hostility or a competition
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
and nothing more
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
not any; not one
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
make a painting
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
plural of “painter” — an artist who paints
From this reading The painters are coming."
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
select carefully from a group
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
a person who owns something
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
an angry dispute
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
past form of “regard” — deem to be
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
in a rueful manner
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
hurting
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I PICK PAINT AND A QUARREL The next morning at breakfast a burned nose confronted me across the table, and the possessor ruefully regarded her sore palms.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading I spoke as if we were old friends.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "You will just have to pick out colours for me.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "No work for you to-day," said I.
Chapter 8 of The Idyl of Twin Fires by Walter Prichard Eaton holds 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 8 holds 188 sentences of The Idyl of Twin Fires, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Idyl of Twin Fires by Walter Prichard Eaton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 8 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 Idyl of Twin Fires by Walter Prichard Eaton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4715 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34177 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34177, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 392 minutes of reading across 943 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Idyl of Twin Fires section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Idyl of Twin Fires 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 Idyl of Twin Fires, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
