Chapter 9 of The Quality of Mercy is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Quality of Mercy is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Very well!" the priest cried, at one point. "Suppose you had the capital you wish. And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich. What would you do?" "What I do?"
Chapter 9 of The Quality of Mercy is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading “"Suppose you had the capital you wish.”
coins made of gold
From this reading “And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.”
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading “"Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.”
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading “"Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.”
possessing material wealth
From this reading “And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.”
express a supposition
From this reading “"Suppose you had the capital you wish.”
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading “And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.”
hope for; have a wish
From this reading “"Suppose you had the capital you wish.”
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.
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.
(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 And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading "Suppose you had the capital you wish.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What would you do?"
coins made of gold
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "Suppose you had the capital you wish.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "What I do?"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
possessing material wealth
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
express in words
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
express a supposition
From this reading "Suppose you had the capital you wish.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
in or at that place or location
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
precisely as stated
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Very well!" the priest cried, at one point.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading And suppose you had taken out all the gold you say is there, and you were rich.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What would you do?"
hope for; have a wish
From this reading "Suppose you had the capital you wish.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading What would you do?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Suppose you had the capital you wish.
Chapter 9 of The Quality of Mercy by William Dean Howells holds 419 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 9 holds 419 sentences of The Quality of Mercy, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Quality of Mercy by William Dean Howells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 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 9 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 Quality of Mercy by William Dean Howells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6684 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30108 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30108, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 557 minutes of reading across 1337 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Quality of Mercy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Quality of Mercy 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 Quality of Mercy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
