Chapter 18 of The Magic Skin is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Magic Skin is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.” “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!” “Wake up!” Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it. “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
Chapter 18 of The Magic Skin is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading “Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.”
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading “Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.”
the boy whose upbringing was described by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
From this reading “Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.”
-ing form of “fling” — throw with force or recklessness
From this reading ““_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.””
a substance that is fluid at room temperature and pressure
From this reading “Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.”
Italian painter whose many paintings exemplify the ideals of the High Renaissance (1483-1520)
From this reading “Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.”
-ing form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading ““_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.””
be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading ““Wake up!””
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
weapons considered collectively
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
cause to move by pulling
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
the boy whose upbringing was described by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
-ing form of “fling” — throw with force or recklessness
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
a substance that is fluid at room temperature and pressure
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
not any; not one
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading “No--‘Death or Foedora!’--I have it!”
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
a separate part of a whole
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
Italian painter whose many paintings exemplify the ideals of the High Renaissance (1483-1520)
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
To recall to mind.
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
the state of being asleep
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
a shifty deceptive person
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
-ing form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “Wake up!”
be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading “Wake up!”
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading Raphael shouted, beating Emile with the piece of shagreen as if he meant to draw electric fluid out of it.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “_Tonnerre_!” said Emile, springing up and flinging his arms round Raphael; “my friend, remember the sort of women you are with.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Ah, but you were sleeping, slyboots.”
Chapter 18 of The Magic Skin by Honoré de Balzac holds 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 18 holds 157 sentences of The Magic Skin, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Magic Skin by Honoré de Balzac exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 18 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 Magic Skin by Honoré de Balzac on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4696 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1307 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1307, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 391 minutes of reading across 940 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Magic Skin section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Magic Skin 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 Magic Skin, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
