Chapter 8 of The Legacy of Cain is here in full — 489 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Legacy of Cain is here in full — 489 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The air of London feels very heavy. There is a nasty smell of smoke in London. There are too many people in London. They seem to be mostly people in a hurry. The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
Chapter 8 of The Legacy of Cain is here in full — 489 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/97 · 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.
plural of “feel” — an intuitive awareness
From this reading “The air of London feels very heavy.”
having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling
From this reading “The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.”
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.”
in large part; mainly or chiefly
From this reading “They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.”
offensive or even (of persons) malicious
From this reading “There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.”
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading “There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.”
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 There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There are too many people in London.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
plural of “feel” — an intuitive awareness
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
a young female
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading There are too many people in London.
in large part; mainly or chiefly
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
offensive or even (of persons) malicious
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading There are too many people in London.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
plural of “street” — a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
express a supposition
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is a nasty smell of smoke in London.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They seem to be mostly people in a hurry.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading There are too many people in London.
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
precisely as stated
From this reading The air of London feels very heavy.
at the time that
From this reading The head of a country girl, when she goes into the streets, turns giddy--I suppose through not being used to the noise.
Chapter 8 of The Legacy of Cain by Wilkie Collins holds 489 sentences, grouped into 98 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 8 holds 489 sentences of The Legacy of Cain, unabridged, divided into 98 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Legacy of Cain by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 489 sentences, grouped into 98 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 98 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 98 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 Legacy of Cain by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8449 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1975 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1975, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1690 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Legacy of Cain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Legacy of Cain 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 Legacy of Cain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
