Chapter 9 of The secret spring is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The secret spring is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"He came in and bowed ceremoniously. His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns. "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.' "His perfect ease of manner froze me. He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
Chapter 9 of The secret spring is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading “"He came in and bowed ceremoniously.”
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading “His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.”
move gently or carefully
From this reading “"His perfect ease of manner froze me.”
inflected form of “freeze” — stop moving or become immobilized
From this reading “"His perfect ease of manner froze me.”
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading “"His perfect ease of manner froze me.”
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading “His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.”
disclosing unintentionally something concealed
From this reading “He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.”
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 “His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.”
In this reading “"'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'”
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.”
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 "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
in a ceremonious manner
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
dearly loved
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
move gently or carefully
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
opinion or judgment
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
inflected form of “freeze” — stop moving or become immobilized
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "He came in and bowed ceremoniously.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
immediately past
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
not any; not one
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
on one occasion
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
very light colored; highly diluted with white
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading "His perfect ease of manner froze me.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
disclosing unintentionally something concealed
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
Chapter 9 of The secret spring by Pierre Benoît holds 401 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 9 holds 401 sentences of The secret spring, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The secret spring by Pierre Benoît exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 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 9 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.
