Chapter 18 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 361 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 361 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual. I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip.... It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism. An oppressive silence reigned. I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
Chapter 18 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 361 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/72 · 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 painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading “I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....”
plural of “death” — the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading “It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.”
water that has condensed on a cool surface overnight from water vapor in the air
From this reading “I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.”
either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh
From this reading “I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....”
weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
From this reading “An oppressive silence reigned.”
past form of “reign” — have sovereign power
From this reading “An oppressive silence reigned.”
any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective tissues
From this reading “It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.”
having won
From this reading “A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.”
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 “An oppressive silence reigned.”
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 VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
(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 It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading An oppressive silence reigned.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
slightly wet
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
the first light of day
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
plural of “death” — the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
water that has condensed on a cool surface overnight from water vapor in the air
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
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 I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
any amazing or wonderful occurrence
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
From this reading An oppressive silence reigned.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading I put my hand out to feel the grass damp with dew.
past form of “reign” — have sovereign power
From this reading An oppressive silence reigned.
any painful disorder of the joints or muscles or connective tissues
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading An oppressive silence reigned.
not moving or operating freely
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
having won
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I was stiff with cramp from my left shoulder down to my hip....
inflected form of “wake” — be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading A VICTORIOUS DAWN The cold woke me as usual.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would be a miracle if we did not all get our deaths of rheumatism.
Chapter 18 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger holds 361 sentences, grouped into 73 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 18 holds 361 sentences of The Ordeal by Fire, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 361 sentences, grouped into 73 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 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 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 18 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.
