Chapter 1 of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some. I asked him why he would go and not I? The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away." A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature. This indeed increased my affection to the child.
Chapter 1 of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 24/82 · 5 reading units · Lines 116–120
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 positive feeling of liking
From this reading “This indeed increased my affection to the child.”
very opposed in nature or character or purpose
From this reading “A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.”
take in solid food
From this reading “The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."”
past form of “imitate” — reproduce someone's behavior or looks
From this reading “A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.”
made greater in size or amount or degree
From this reading “This indeed increased my affection to the child.”
Wide-mouthed cylindrical containers made of clay or glass, used for storing goods.
From this reading “Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.”
plural of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."”
having great power or force or potency or effect
From this reading “A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.”
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 A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
a positive feeling of liking
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
a youthful male person
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
a young person of either sex
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
very opposed in nature or character or purpose
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
take in solid food
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
past form of “imitate” — reproduce someone's behavior or looks
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
made greater in size or amount or degree
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
Wide-mouthed cylindrical containers made of clay or glass, used for storing goods.
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
plural of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
used to form the superlative
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
having great power or force or potency or effect
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
only a very short time before
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
preservation of yourself from harm; a natural or instinctive tendency
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
carry out
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This indeed increased my affection to the child.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A mind scarcely now to be imitated, so contrary to self-preservation, the most powerful law of Nature.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading I asked him why he would go and not I?
marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Xury said, he would take one of the jars and bring me some.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading The poor boy answered, "If wild mans come they eat me, you go away."
Chapter 1 of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures by Daniel Defoe holds 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 1 holds 411 sentences of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures by Daniel Defoe exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 1 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 Life and Most Surprising Adventures by Daniel Defoe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2877 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11866 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11866, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 239 minutes of reading across 576 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Life and Most Surprising Adventures section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of The Life and Most Surprising Adventures 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 Life and Most Surprising Adventures, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
