Chapter 31 of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories is here in full — 195 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories is here in full — 195 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride. She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night. "And I'm not a bit tired," she added. "Are you?" The man beside her did not instantly reply.
Chapter 31 of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories is here in full — 195 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
plural of “breeze” — a slight wind (usually refreshing)
From this reading “EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.”
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading “EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.”
strongly attracted
From this reading “She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.”
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.”
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading “She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading “The man beside her did not instantly reply.”
inflected form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading “She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.”
evoking lifelike images within the mind
From this reading “She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.”
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 "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
past form of “add” — make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Are you?"
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
next to; at the side of
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
plural of “breeze” — a slight wind (usually refreshing)
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
a railcar where passengers ride
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
strongly attracted
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
opinion or judgment
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
inflected form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
From this reading The man beside her did not instantly reply.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading EARLY BREEZES "It's been lovely," said the bride.
depleted of strength or energy
From this reading "And I'm not a bit tired," she added.
evoking lifelike images within the mind
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She leant back in the open carriage, gazing with wide, charmed eyes into the vivid Indian night.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Are you?"
Chapter 31 of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell holds 195 sentences, grouped into 39 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 31 holds 195 sentences of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 195 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 31 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 Safety Curtain, and Other Stories by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7039 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16651 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16651, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 586 minutes of reading across 1408 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories 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 Safety Curtain, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
