Chapter 10 of The O'Ruddy: A Romance is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The O'Ruddy: A Romance is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman. All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name. I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing. They fled tumultuously. A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
Chapter 10 of The O'Ruddy: A Romance is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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 roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
From this reading “A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.”
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading “I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.”
plural of “flock” — a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading “I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.”
sing with closed lips
From this reading “All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.”
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading “All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.”
uttered in a shrill scream as of pain or terror
From this reading “A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.”
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading “A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.”
a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
From this reading “I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.”
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 And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
(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 All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
widely known and esteemed
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
inflected form of “flee” — run away quickly
From this reading They fled tumultuously.
plural of “flock” — a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
set up or found
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
sing with closed lips
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
a female domestic
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
cut with a saw
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
plural of “servant” — a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
uttered in a shrill scream as of pain or terror
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading A silly maid coming from a chamber with a bucket saw me and shrieked.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
someone skilled at fencing
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They fled tumultuously.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
in a tumultuous and riotous manner
From this reading They fled tumultuously.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading And now I found out what it was to be a famous swordsman.
a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
in the company of; together with
From this reading All that day the inn seemed to hum with my name.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading I could not step down a corridor without seeing flocks of servants taking wing.
Chapter 10 of The O'Ruddy: A Romance by Stephen Crane holds 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 10 holds 79 sentences of The O'Ruddy: A Romance, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The O'Ruddy: A Romance by Stephen Crane exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 10 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 O'Ruddy: A Romance by Stephen Crane on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5713 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29573 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29573, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 476 minutes of reading across 1143 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The O'Ruddy: A Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The O'Ruddy: A Romance 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 O'Ruddy: A Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
