Chapter 2 of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances is here in full — 33 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances is here in full — 33 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child. At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer. "It will be a short war and a bloody one. The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas. We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
Chapter 2 of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances is here in full — 33 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/6 · 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.
capital of Germany located in eastern Germany
From this reading “The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.”
having or covered with or accompanied by blood
From this reading “"It will be a short war and a bloody one.”
give encouragement to
From this reading “At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.”
emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
From this reading “We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.”
love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
From this reading “At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.”
plural of “russian” — a native or inhabitant of Russia
From this reading “The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.”
plural of “sea” — a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading “We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.”
sweep across or over
From this reading “We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.”
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 shall sweep the German flag from the seas.”
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 "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
(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 At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
capital of Germany located in eastern Germany
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
having or covered with or accompanied by blood
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
give encouragement to
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
a young person of either sex
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
a person of German nationality
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
From this reading At first he had been all patriotism and good cheer.
plural of “russian” — a native or inhabitant of Russia
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
plural of “sea” — a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
sweep across or over
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Russians will be in Berlin by Christmas.
characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We shall sweep the German flag from the seas.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading John Damer was troubled for his country and his wife and his child.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "It will be a short war and a bloody one.
Chapter 2 of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances by Mary Cholmondeley holds 33 sentences, grouped into 7 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 2 holds 33 sentences of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances, unabridged, divided into 7 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances by Mary Cholmondeley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 33 sentences, grouped into 7 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 7 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 7 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 2 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 Romance of His Life, and Other Romances by Mary Cholmondeley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4084 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40947 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40947, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 340 minutes of reading across 817 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Romance of His Life, and Other Romances 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 Romance of His Life, and Other Romances, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
