Chapter 27 of The Master Craftsman is here in full — 174 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of The Master Craftsman is here in full — 174 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RELEASE. I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself. The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost. She turned her head as I opened the door. In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
Chapter 27 of The Master Craftsman is here in full — 174 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading “The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.”
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading “I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading “I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.”
according to the clock
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.”
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading “I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.”
release, as from one's grip
From this reading “RELEASE.”
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading “In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.”
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 “In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.”
In this reading “The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.”
In this reading “In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.”
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 The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
put on clothes
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
apart from; not including
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
opinion or judgment
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
set up or found
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
light from a lamp
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
clear and bright
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
not any; not one
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
according to the clock
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
release, as from one's grip
From this reading RELEASE.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
cut with a saw
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading In the lamplight I saw her sweet, serious face and her limpid eyes.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading She turned her head as I opened the door.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I found my mistress--it was nearly nine o’clock in the evening--in the parlour playing her thoughts to herself.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The room had no light except that of the street-lamp, which showed her in her light gray dress, something like a ghost.
Chapter 27 of The Master Craftsman by Walter Besant holds 174 sentences, grouped into 35 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 27 holds 174 sentences of The Master Craftsman, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of The Master Craftsman by Walter Besant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 174 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 27 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 Master Craftsman by Walter Besant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Master Craftsman section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Master Craftsman 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 Master Craftsman, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
