Chapter 8 of The secret spring is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The secret spring is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"'It's this,' said my father magisterially. 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children. He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes. The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.' "'I don't care,' I replied.
Chapter 8 of The secret spring is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
prince consort of Queen Victoria of England (1819-1861)
From this reading “'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.”
in an accurate manner
From this reading “He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.”
a polygenic disease characterized by abnormally high glucose levels in the blood; any of several metabolic disorders marked by excessive urination and persistent thirst
From this reading “He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.”
a British peer of the highest rank
From this reading “The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'”
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading “The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'”
A person legally or magically entitled to the property or rank of another on that person's death.
From this reading “The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'”
one who suffers for the sake of principle
From this reading “He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.”
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading “He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.”
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 He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
prince consort of Queen Victoria of England (1819-1861)
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading "'I don't care,' I replied.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
in an accurate manner
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
a polygenic disease characterized by abnormally high glucose levels in the blood; any of several metabolic disorders marked by excessive urination and persistent thirst
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "'I don't care,' I replied.
a British peer of the highest rank
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
A person legally or magically entitled to the property or rank of another on that person's death.
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "'I don't care,' I replied.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
in an overbearingly domineering manner; as a dictator
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
one who suffers for the sake of principle
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
not any; not one
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading "'I don't care,' I replied.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
being two more than sixty
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Grand Duke of Lautenburg is his heir.'
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "'It's this,' said my father magisterially.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'King Albert of Würtemberg has no children.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading He is sixty-two, as you correctly observed, and a martyr to diabetes.
Chapter 8 of The secret spring by Pierre Benoît holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 8 holds 405 sentences of The secret spring, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The secret spring by Pierre Benoît exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 8 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 secret spring by Pierre Benoît on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The secret spring section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The secret spring 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 secret spring, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
