Chapter 17 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No! Call yourselves _poilus_!" Bouillon exclaimed. We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth. But what a feeling of buoyancy!
Chapter 17 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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 clear seasoned broth
From this reading “Bouillon exclaimed.”
cheerfulness that bubbles to the surface
From this reading “But what a feeling of buoyancy!”
get or gather together
From this reading “WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No!”
a solid substance in the form of tiny loose particles; a solid that has been pulverized
From this reading “We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.”
past form of “smear” — stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance
From this reading “We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.”
lacking natural ease
From this reading “We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.”
salty fluid secreted by sweat glands
From this reading “We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.”
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading “Call yourselves _poilus_!"”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.”
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 But what a feeling of buoyancy!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
a clear seasoned broth
From this reading Bouillon exclaimed.
cheerfulness that bubbles to the surface
From this reading But what a feeling of buoyancy!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But what a feeling of buoyancy!
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Call yourselves _poilus_!"
get or gather together
From this reading WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No!
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading Bouillon exclaimed.
plural of “face” — the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading But what a feeling of buoyancy!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
not any; not one
From this reading WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But what a feeling of buoyancy!
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
used when we are both doing the action and receiving it
From this reading WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Call yourselves _poilus_!"
a solid substance in the form of tiny loose particles; a solid that has been pulverized
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
past form of “smear” — stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
lacking natural ease
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
salty fluid secreted by sweat glands
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
having edges that are jagged from injury
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading WE COLLECT OURSELVES "No!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading But what a feeling of buoyancy!
in the company of; together with
From this reading We looked at each other, and at the strained faces smeared with sweat and powder, the torn greatcoats, the knees and hands covered with earth.
used when the people spoken to are both doing and receiving the action
From this reading Call yourselves _poilus_!"
Chapter 17 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger holds 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 17 holds 163 sentences of The Ordeal by Fire, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 17 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 Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11806 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60166 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60166, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2362 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ordeal by Fire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Ordeal by Fire 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 Ordeal by Fire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
