Chapter 16 of The Rake's Progress is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Rake's Progress is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously. "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius. "And how may we know him in this throng?" They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom. "We came here to find him," she answered.
Chapter 16 of The Rake's Progress is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
a small recess opening off a larger room
From this reading “They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.”
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.”
large room used mainly for dancing
From this reading “They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.”
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading “They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.”
deeply involved especially in something complicated
From this reading “MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.”
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.”
restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
From this reading “"Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.”
a large gathering of people
From this reading “"And how may we know him in this throng?"”
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 “"We came here to find him," she answered.”
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 small recess opening off a larger room
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
on or to one side
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
large room used mainly for dancing
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "We came here to find him," she answered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
deeply involved especially in something complicated
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "We came here to find him," she answered.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
moving to the inside of something
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "We came here to find him," she answered.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
a large gathering of people
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
precisely as stated
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "And how may we know him in this throng?"
in or at the place that
From this reading MARIUS ENTANGLED "Where is Rose?" asked Miss Chressham anxiously.
in the company of; together with
From this reading They stepped aside into an alcove set with card-tables, and Susannah gazed away from her companion and down the crowded ballroom.
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading "Ye are very impatient to find him," answered Marius.
Chapter 16 of The Rake's Progress by Marjorie Bowen holds 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 16 holds 223 sentences of The Rake's Progress, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Rake's Progress by Marjorie Bowen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 16 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 Rake's Progress by Marjorie Bowen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6467 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48200 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48200, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 538 minutes of reading across 1294 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rake's Progress section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Rake's Progress 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 Rake's Progress, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
