Chapter 4 of The painted swan is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The painted swan is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true. LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann. To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover! Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_. ANN: Don’t you see it is not a question of _la vie galante_?
Chapter 4 of The painted swan is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
any person at all
From this reading “LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.”
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading “To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!”
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading “LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.”
uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
From this reading “Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.”
a leader engaged in civil administration
From this reading “To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!”
plural of “usage” — the act of using
From this reading “Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.”
compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
From this reading “Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.”
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 “To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!”
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 To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true.
any person at all
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true.
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ANN: Don’t you see it is not a question of _la vie galante_?
divisible by two
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
free from evil or guilt
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
a leader engaged in civil administration
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading ANN: Don’t you see it is not a question of _la vie galante_?
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading ANN: Don’t you see it is not a question of _la vie galante_?
be seated
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
express in words
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
in or at that place or location
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading ANN (_quite calmly_): It’s true.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
plural of “usage” — the act of using
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Even we did not think you as ignorant of the usages of _La Vie Galante_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading LORD WILLIAM: It is delightful to know anyone as innocent as you are, Ann.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading To sit there deliberately and tell us a fifth-rate politician is your lover!
Chapter 4 of The painted swan by Elizabeth Bibesco holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 420 sentences of The painted swan, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The painted swan by Elizabeth Bibesco exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 4 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 painted swan by Elizabeth Bibesco on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
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 painted swan section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The painted swan 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 painted swan, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
