Chapter 23 of The Kentons is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Kentons is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"We'd risk it. But that isn't all. Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?" "Why, certainly." The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
Chapter 23 of The Kentons is here in full — 178 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading “"Why, certainly."”
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading “The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.”
accept an excuse for
From this reading “Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"”
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading “The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.”
go away from a place
From this reading “Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"”
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading “The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.”
(of e.g. celestial bodies) above the horizon
From this reading “The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.”
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading “"We'd risk it.”
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.
(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 But that isn't all.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
any thing at all
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But that isn't all.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "Why, certainly."
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
accept an excuse for
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But that isn't all.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "We'd risk it.
determine the result of (a competition)
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
and nothing more
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
go away from a place
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
(of e.g. celestial bodies) above the horizon
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
From this reading "We'd risk it.
Identical; not different.
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
express in words
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading But that isn't all.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The judge had risen and pushed back his chair, and Breckon did the same.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "We'd risk it.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Why, certainly."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
but in spite of that
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Will you excuse me if I don't say anything more just yet--and if I leave you?"
Chapter 23 of The Kentons by William Dean Howells holds 178 sentences, grouped into 36 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 178 sentences of The Kentons, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Kentons by William Dean Howells exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 178 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 23 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 Kentons by William Dean Howells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4483 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3362 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3362, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 373 minutes of reading across 897 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Kentons section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Kentons 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 Kentons, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
