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The Moon and Sixpence
The Moon and Sixpence

Chapter VIII · Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for The Moon and Sixpence
Context Illustration Reading 1/42 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.
There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.
There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.
Do you know Paris well?”
I asked.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Moon and Sixpence

Chapter VIII · Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/42 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.
Line 2
There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.
Line 3
There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.
Line 4
Do you know Paris well?”
Line 5
I asked.

Learner Dictionary

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.

Blood noun US /blʌd/

The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.

From this reading “There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.”

All words in this reading · 64

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.

a

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

and

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

asked

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I asked.

at

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

Avenue

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

Balzac

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

bloodnounUS /blʌd/

The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

clerks

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

Clichy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

crowded

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

de

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

Do

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Do you know Paris well?”

excites

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

fancy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

fellows

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

female

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

for

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

frailties

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

have

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

Honore

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

hour

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

I

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading I asked.

in

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

is

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

know

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Do you know Paris well?”

lively

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

make

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

male

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

mankind

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

many

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

members

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

might

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

of

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

old

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

out

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

pages

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

Paris

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

passers-by

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

personages

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

poorer

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

prepares

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

professions

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

profit

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

quarters

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

romance

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

see

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

shopgirls

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

sordid

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

soul

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

stepped

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

streets

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

that

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

The

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

their

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

There

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

thronging

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

unexpected

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

vitality

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There is in the streets of the poorer quarters of Paris a thronging vitality which excites the blood and prepares the soul for the unexpected.

was

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Avenue de Clichy was crowded at that hour, and a lively fancy might see in the passers-by the personages of many a sordid romance.

well

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Do you know Paris well?”

were

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

which

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

who

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading There were clerks and shopgirls; old fellows who might have stepped out of the pages of Honore de Balzac; members, male and female, of the professions which make their profit of the frailties of mankind.

you

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading “Do you know Paris well?”

Chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham holds 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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.

What does chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence contain?

Chapter 8 holds 210 sentences of The Moon and Sixpence, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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.

How do I study chapter 8 of The Moon and Sixpence?

Work through the 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 42 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.

Can chapter 8 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 8 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.

Questions about reading The Moon and Sixpence

Common questions about reading The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Moon and Sixpence?

Yes. All 5127 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #222 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Moon and Sixpence is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #222, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Moon and Sixpence take to read?

About 427 minutes of reading across 1026 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Moon and Sixpence section by section

How to work through The Moon and Sixpence section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Moon and Sixpence to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Moon and Sixpence

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Moon and Sixpence, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Confess
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Moon and Sixpence; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
First
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Moon and Sixpence; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Acquaintance
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Moon and Sixpence; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Charles
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Moon and Sixpence; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.