Chapter 38 of The Rise of David Levinsky is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter 38 of The Rise of David Levinsky is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow. It caused me indescribable suffering. It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age. Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different. But this point of view I loathed to accept.
Chapter 38 of The Rise of David Levinsky is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
possessive form of “anna” — a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading “Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.”
a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished
From this reading “It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.”
plural of “episode” — a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events
From this reading “EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.”
a sudden and violent collapse
From this reading “It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.”
defying expression or description
From this reading “It caused me indescribable suffering.”
past form of “loathe” — find repugnant
From this reading “But this point of view I loathed to accept.”
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading “EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.”
not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature
From this reading “It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.”
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 EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
consider or hold as true
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
how long something has existed
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
possessive form of “anna” — a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
exhale hard
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
past form of “cause” — give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
From this reading It caused me indescribable suffering.
unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
plural of “episode” — a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
a sudden and violent collapse
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
defying expression or description
From this reading It caused me indescribable suffering.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
past form of “loathe” — find repugnant
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It caused me indescribable suffering.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
a state of acute pain
From this reading It caused me indescribable suffering.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
in the direction of
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
not in accordance with or determined by nature; contrary to nature
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
a way of regarding situations or topics etc.
From this reading But this point of view I loathed to accept.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading EPISODES OF A LONELY LIFE IT was a severe blow.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would not have been unnatural to attribute my fiasco to my age.
a late time of life
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
used of the younger of two persons of the same name especially used to distinguish a son from his father
From this reading Had I been ten years younger, Anna's attitude toward me might have been different.
Chapter 38 of The Rise of David Levinsky by Abraham Cahan holds 180 sentences, grouped into 36 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 38 holds 180 sentences of The Rise of David Levinsky, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 38 of The Rise of David Levinsky by Abraham Cahan exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 180 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 38 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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Yes. All 9919 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2803 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2803, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1984 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rise of David Levinsky section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Rise of David Levinsky 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 Rise of David Levinsky, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
