Chapter 12 of The optimist is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The optimist is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
By and by he asked to be told the time. It was nine o’clock. The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper. “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children. Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
Chapter 12 of The optimist is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
possessive form of “canon” — a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field of art or philosophy
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading “Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....”
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading “Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....”
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....”
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading “It was nine o’clock.”
according to the clock
wanting in physical strength
From this reading “The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.”
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 “Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....”
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 Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
anew
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
possessive form of “canon” — a rule or especially body of rules or principles generally established as valid and fundamental in a field of art or philosophy
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was nine o’clock.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading It was nine o’clock.
according to the clock
From this reading It was nine o’clock.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “I thought it was morning, and that I had them all again--little children.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading By and by he asked to be told the time.
inclined to believe or confide readily; full of trust
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Such trustful little hands lying in mine ... and the children have grown up and gone away....
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was nine o’clock.
wanting in physical strength
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading The Canon’s voice had become a weak whisper.
Chapter 12 of The optimist by E. M. Delafield holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 12 holds 412 sentences of The optimist, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The optimist by E. M. Delafield exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 12 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 optimist by E. M. Delafield on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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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.
How to work through The optimist section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The optimist 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 optimist, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
