Chapter 5 of The Mermaid: A Love Tale is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Mermaid: A Love Tale is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SEEN THROUGH BLEAR EYES. It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man. He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness. The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman. The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
Chapter 5 of The Mermaid: A Love Tale is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading “The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.”
a man from your own country
From this reading “The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading “The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.”
a person who is older than you are
From this reading “It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.”
inflected form of “foresee” — realize beforehand
From this reading “It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.”
the property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence
From this reading “He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.”
characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin
From this reading “The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.”
United States divorcee whose marriage to Edward VIII created a constitutional crisis leading to his abdication
From this reading “It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.”
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 It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
make dim or indistinct
From this reading SEEN THROUGH BLEAR EYES.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
a man from your own country
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
recognizable; marked
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
a person who is older than you are
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
opinion or judgment
From this reading SEEN THROUGH BLEAR EYES.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
inflected form of “foresee” — realize beforehand
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
the property possessed by something or someone of outstanding importance or eminence
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
above and across; more than
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading SEEN THROUGH BLEAR EYES.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The elder Simpson had never set foot off the edge of his native island.
United States divorcee whose marriage to Edward VIII created a constitutional crisis leading to his abdication
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
a male human offspring
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading SEEN THROUGH BLEAR EYES.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading The wide, busy world would not have known itself as seen in the mind of this gray-haired countryman.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading He looked forth over the world and decided on the kind of greatness.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It was foreseen by the elder Simpson that his son would be a great man.
Chapter 5 of The Mermaid: A Love Tale by L. (Lily) Dougall holds 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 5 holds 109 sentences of The Mermaid: A Love Tale, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Mermaid: A Love Tale by L. (Lily) Dougall exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 5 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.
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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.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Mermaid: A Love Tale, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
