Chapter 5 of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE. My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life. I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life. To me it had few joys. It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
Chapter 5 of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
in bodily form
From this reading “It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.”
the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else
From this reading “THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.”
superlative of “happy” — enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.”
plural of “joy” — the emotion of great happiness
From this reading “To me it had few joys.”
a trial period during which your character and abilities are tested to see whether you are suitable for work or for membership
From this reading “It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.”
the act of controlling by restraining someone or something
From this reading “It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.”
plural of “sorrow” — an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading “THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.”
not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature
From this reading “It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.”
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 a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
in bodily form
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else
From this reading THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.
lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading To me it had few joys.
depressingly dark
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading To me it had few joys.
superlative of “happy” — enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading To me it had few joys.
plural of “joy” — the emotion of great happiness
From this reading To me it had few joys.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To me it had few joys.
involving the mind or an intellectual process
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.
above and across; more than
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
an amount of time
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
a trial period during which your character and abilities are tested to see whether you are suitable for work or for membership
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
the act of controlling by restraining someone or something
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field
From this reading I have heard childhood called the happiest season of life.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
plural of “sorrow” — an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.
a state of acute pain
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SORROWS OF DEPENDENCE.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading My heart sickens over this dreary portion of my life.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To me it had few joys.
not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a gloomy period of mental suffering and bodily fatigue; of unnatural restraint and painful probation.
Chapter 5 of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) by Susanna Moodie holds 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 99 sentences of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2), unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) by Susanna Moodie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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.
Common questions about reading The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) by Susanna Moodie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2934 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20835 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20835, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 244 minutes of reading across 587 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2) 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 Monctons: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 2), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
