Chapter 11 of The Recipe for Diamonds is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Recipe for Diamonds is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE RED DELF AMPHORA. The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily. There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place. The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike. The place was bone-dry.
Chapter 11 of The Recipe for Diamonds is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
an ancient jar with two handles and a narrow neck; used to hold oil or wine
From this reading “THE RED DELF AMPHORA.”
ruined by overcooking
From this reading “The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.”
stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading “The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.”
a serving of drink (usually alcoholic) drawn from a keg
From this reading “There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.”
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading “There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.”
wade or dabble in a puddle
From this reading “The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.”
the dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width
From this reading “The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.”
cover with wax
From this reading “The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
an ancient jar with two handles and a narrow neck; used to hold oil or wine
From this reading THE RED DELF AMPHORA.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
without a trace of moisture; as dry as a weathered bone
From this reading The place was bone-dry.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
ruined by overcooking
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
an excavation; usually a quarry or mine
From this reading THE RED DELF AMPHORA.
a serving of drink (usually alcoholic) drawn from a keg
From this reading There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
earth colored; of something having a color of soil or earth
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
not any; not one
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.
wade or dabble in a puddle
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading THE RED DELF AMPHORA.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
at a steady rate or pace
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE RED DELF AMPHORA.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.
the dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
plural of “wall” — an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There wasn't the ghost of a draught in the place.
cover with wax
From this reading The candle, stepped in a puddle of wax, burnt up steadily.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The walls were dry-built, but their thickness was so great that no breath drove in from the outside, and the air of the chamber was heavy and earthlike.
Chapter 11 of The Recipe for Diamonds by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 11 holds 173 sentences of The Recipe for Diamonds, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Recipe for Diamonds by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 11 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 Recipe for Diamonds by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3047 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31083 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31083, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 253 minutes of reading across 610 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Recipe for Diamonds section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Recipe for Diamonds 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 Recipe for Diamonds, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
