Chapter 26 of The Prisoner is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Prisoner is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Yes," said Anne. She knew what he meant. They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them. They must be up to cope with this strange Esther. Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
Chapter 26 of The Prisoner is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/76 · 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.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading “"Yes," said Anne.”
succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available
From this reading “They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.”
a padded cloth covering to keep a teapot warm
From this reading “Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.”
not pleasing in odor or taste
From this reading “They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.”
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading “They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.”
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading “Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.”
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading “Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.”
not clear to the understanding
From this reading “They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.”
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 had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading "Yes," said Anne.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
in a state of sleep
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
succeed in doing, achieving, or producing (something) with the limited or inadequate means available
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
a padded cloth covering to keep a teapot warm
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
not pleasing in odor or taste
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
(Old Testament) a beautiful Jewess chosen by the king of Persia to be his queen; she stopped a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia (an event celebrated by Jews as the feast of Purim)
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She knew what he meant.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading She knew what he meant.
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading She knew what he meant.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
a separate part of a whole
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
not clear to the understanding
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Yes," said Anne.
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She knew what he meant.
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
in the near future
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
having come into contact
From this reading Lydia fell asleep almost, as the cosy saying goes, as soon as her head touched the pillow.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading She knew what he meant.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They must be up to cope with this strange Esther.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading They had, somehow, a distasteful, puzzling piece of work cut out for them.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes," said Anne.
Chapter 26 of The Prisoner by Alice Brown holds 384 sentences, grouped into 77 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 26 holds 384 sentences of The Prisoner, unabridged, divided into 77 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Prisoner by Alice Brown exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 384 sentences, grouped into 77 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 77 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 77 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 26 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 Prisoner by Alice Brown on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10669 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29366 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29366, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2134 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Prisoner section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Prisoner 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 Prisoner, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
