Chapter 23 of The Mysterious Island is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Mysterious Island is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us! Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.” “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.” “To-morrow?” “To-morrow!”
Chapter 23 of The Mysterious Island is here in full — 341 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/68 · 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 person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading ““A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!”
Persian prince who was defeated in battle by his brother Artaxerxes II (424-401 BC)
From this reading ““No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.””
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading ““A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!”
29th President of the United States; two of his appointees were involved in the Teapot Dome scandal (1865-1823)
From this reading “Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.””
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading ““A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!”
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading ““A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!”
be against; express opposition to
From this reading “Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.””
a small drum with one head of soft calfskin
From this reading ““A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!”
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 “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
Persian prince who was defeated in battle by his brother Artaxerxes II (424-401 BC)
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
the act of departing
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
29th President of the United States; two of his appointees were involved in the Teapot Dome scandal (1865-1823)
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
ten 10s
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
not any; not one
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
be against; express opposition to
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
capable of happening or existing
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
in the near future
From this reading “No, Pencroft,” replied Cyrus Harding; “and you shall set out as soon as possible.”
a small drum with one head of soft calfskin
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “To-morrow?”
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “A castaway!” exclaimed Pencroft; “left on this Tabor Island not two hundred miles from us!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Ah, Captain Harding, you won’t now oppose my going.”
Chapter 23 of The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne holds 341 sentences, grouped into 69 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 23 holds 341 sentences of The Mysterious Island, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 341 sentences, grouped into 69 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 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 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 23 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 Mysterious Island by Jules Verne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10051 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1268 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1268, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2011 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mysterious Island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Mysterious Island 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 Mysterious Island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
