Chapter 13 of The Life of James McNeill Whistler is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The Life of James McNeill Whistler is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
EIGHTY. For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice. When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in. It was cold, and he felt the cold. It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
Chapter 13 of The Life of James McNeill Whistler is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading “When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.”
being ten more than seventy
From this reading “EIGHTY.”
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.”
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading “It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.”
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading “It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.”
past form of “numb” — make numb or insensitive
From this reading “It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.”
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading “For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.”
United States painter (1834-1903)
From this reading “For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.”
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 “It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.”
In this reading “For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.”
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 When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was cold, and he felt the cold.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading It was cold, and he felt the cold.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
being ten more than seventy
From this reading EIGHTY.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading It was cold, and he felt the cold.
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
set up or found
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
past form of “numb” — make numb or insensitive
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was cold, and he felt the cold.
in or at that place or location
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was cold, and he felt the cold.
at the time that
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
United States painter (1834-1903)
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
in the company of; together with
From this reading It is almost impossible to hold a copper-plate or a needle with numbed fingers, and Venice in ice made him long for London in fog.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading When he got there he found it a difficult place to work in.
a late time of life
From this reading For years Whistler wanted to go to Venice.
Chapter 13 of The Life of James McNeill Whistler by Elizabeth Robins Pennell holds 256 sentences, grouped into 52 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 13 holds 256 sentences of The Life of James McNeill Whistler, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Life of James McNeill Whistler by Elizabeth Robins Pennell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 256 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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 13 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 of James McNeill Whistler by Elizabeth Robins Pennell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8629 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47363 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47363, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1726 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Life of James McNeill Whistler section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Life of James McNeill Whistler 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 of James McNeill Whistler, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
