Chapter 4 of The Riddle of the Night is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Riddle of the Night is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Yes, I have. Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India. Why?" "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness. "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
Chapter 4 of The Riddle of the Night is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
From this reading “"Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.”
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
the expensive white fur of the ermine
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947
From this reading “Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.”
coated with paint
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
of surpassing excellence
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading “"I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.”
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 "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
(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 "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
the expensive white fur of the ermine
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
something many people believe that is false
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Yes, I have.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
the one or ones belonging to her
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Yes, I have.
a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
and nothing more
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
coated with paint
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
of surpassing excellence
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
precisely as stated
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading "I seem to fancy that I heard something about Lady Katharine having had her portrait painted wearing a very superb ermine cloak.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
at the time that
From this reading Lady Chepstowe gave me hers when she went to India.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Oh, just a fancy of mine, that's all," replied Cleek with apparent offhandedness.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, I have.
Chapter 4 of The Riddle of the Night by Thomas W. Hanshew holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 4 holds 426 sentences of The Riddle of the Night, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Riddle of the Night by Thomas W. Hanshew exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 4 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 Riddle of the Night by Thomas W. Hanshew on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4240 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33271 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33271, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 353 minutes of reading across 848 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Riddle of the Night section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Riddle of the Night 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 Riddle of the Night, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
