Chapter 3 of The quest of the Silver Swan is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The quest of the Silver Swan is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?” Brandon asked. “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost. How could these papers have benefited me?” “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
Chapter 3 of The quest of the Silver Swan is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
past form of “benefit” — derive a benefit from
From this reading “How could these papers have benefited me?””
-ing form of “except” — take exception to
From this reading ““Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.”
plural of “investment” — the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit
From this reading ““Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.”
plural of “misfortune” — unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event
From this reading ““Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.”
a remark that calls attention to something or someone
From this reading “AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?””
with honesty
From this reading ““Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.”
to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
From this reading “AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?””
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading “AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?””
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 ““Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.”
In this reading ““Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.”
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.
a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Brandon asked.
have
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
past form of “benefit” — derive a benefit from
From this reading How could these papers have benefited me?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Brandon asked.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading How could these papers have benefited me?”
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
-ing form of “except” — take exception to
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading How could these papers have benefited me?”
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How could these papers have benefited me?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
plural of “investment” — the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
immediately past
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading How could these papers have benefited me?”
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
plural of “misfortune” — unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
a remark that calls attention to something or someone
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
with honesty
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
any member of a ship's crew
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
(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 “Well, that I don’t rightly know,” replied the sailor slowly.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
in the company of; together with
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading AN ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK OF THE SILVER SWAN “TO what did these papers bear reference?”
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading “Father met with heavy misfortunes in his investments last year, and every penny, excepting the Swan itself, was lost.
Chapter 3 of The quest of the Silver Swan by W. Bert (Walter Bertram) Foster holds 63 sentences, grouped into 13 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 3 holds 63 sentences of The quest of the Silver Swan, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The quest of the Silver Swan by W. Bert (Walter Bertram) Foster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 63 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 3 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.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The quest of the Silver Swan, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
