Chapter 20 of The Italians: A Novel is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Italians: A Novel is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS. Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia. The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower. Hours ago the last light had gone out. The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
Chapter 20 of The Italians: A Novel is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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 act of burning something
From this reading “WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.”
a split or indentation in something (as the palate or chin)
From this reading “The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.”
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading “WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.”
more slowly
From this reading “The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.”
plural of “stroke” — (sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
From this reading “The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.”
plural of “summit” — the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
From this reading “The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.”
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.
in the past
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
the act of burning something
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
a split or indentation in something (as the palate or chin)
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
immediately past
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Hours ago the last light had gone out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
more slowly
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
plural of “stroke” — (sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia.
plural of “summit” — the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
From this reading The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day, and sounded hollower.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading WHAT CAME OF BURNING THE MARCHESA'S PAPERS.
Chapter 20 of The Italians: A Novel by Frances Minto Dickinson Elliot holds 297 sentences, grouped into 60 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 20 holds 297 sentences of The Italians: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 60 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Italians: A Novel by Frances Minto Dickinson Elliot exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 297 sentences, grouped into 60 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 60 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 60 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 20 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 Italians: A Novel by Frances Minto Dickinson Elliot on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8182 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12385 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12385, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1637 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Italians: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Italians: A Novel 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 Italians: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
