Chapter 23 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife! There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere. What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?" A dream? The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
Chapter 23 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
at or in or to any place
From this reading “There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “"The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!”
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “"The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"”
edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
From this reading “"The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!”
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"”
use a knife on
From this reading “The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?”
the basic human power of intelligent thought and perception
From this reading “What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"”
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 isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
at or in or to any place
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
coverings that are used on a bed
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
showing who or what does the action
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
a social unit living together
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
characteristic of humanity
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
attach a tag or label to
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
use a knife on
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
in or at that place or location
From this reading There isn't a mark in the bedclothes anywhere.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
tested and proved useful or correct
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
which person or people
From this reading The woman who had tried to stab me, not a living human being like myself?
in the company of; together with
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
the basic human power of intelligent thought and perception
From this reading What do you mean by coming into a man's place and frightening his family out of their wits by a dream?"
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "The devil fly away with you and your woman with the knife!
Chapter 23 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne holds 201 sentences, grouped into 41 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 201 sentences of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 201 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 Lock and Key Library — Modern English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8025 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2038 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2038, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1605 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lock and Key Library — Modern English section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Lock and Key Library — Modern English 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 Lock and Key Library — Modern English, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
