Chapter 1 of The Phantom Violin is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Phantom Violin is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence! They saw me!” The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door. Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it. “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
Chapter 1 of The Phantom Violin is here in full — 159 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!”
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!”
very small
From this reading “The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.”
inflected form of “prop” — support by placing against something solid or rigid
From this reading “Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.”
inflected form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading “The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading ““They saw me!” she repeated in a 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 “The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.”
In this reading ““They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.”
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 “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
a city in central Italy on the Arno; provincial capital of Tuscany; center of the Italian Renaissance from 14th to 16th centuries
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
a young female
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They saw me!”
without a sound
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
very small
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
inflected form of “prop” — support by placing against something solid or rigid
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
recurring again and again
From this reading “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
cut with a saw
From this reading They saw me!”
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
a person, without saying who
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
inflected form of “spring” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago “Flo—Florence!
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They saw me!”
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The little French girl, Petite Jeanne, sprang noiselessly through the cabin door.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then, as if to keep someone out, closed the door and propped herself against it.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “They saw me!” she repeated in a whisper.
Chapter 1 of The Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 159 sentences, grouped into 32 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 1 holds 159 sentences of The Phantom Violin, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 159 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 1 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 Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4180 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44294 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44294, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 348 minutes of reading across 836 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Phantom Violin section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Phantom Violin 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 Phantom Violin, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
