Chapter 25 of The Story of a Child is here in full — 38 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of The Story of a Child is here in full — 38 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Cakes! Cakes! My good hot cakes! The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain. Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
Chapter 25 of The Story of a Child is here in full — 38 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/7 · 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.
someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way
From this reading “Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.”
a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
From this reading “The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.”
plural of “cake” — a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
From this reading “Cakes!”
happening every night
From this reading “The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.”
resist doing something
From this reading “The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.”
a property of polygons: the property of having equal sides and equal angles
From this reading “Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.”
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading “The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.”
a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area
From this reading “The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.”
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.
anew
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
plural of “cake” — a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
From this reading Cakes!
plural of “footstep” — the sound of a step of someone walking
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading My good hot cakes!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading My good hot cakes!
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My good hot cakes!
happening every night
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
done or occurring in a brief period of time
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
resist doing something
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
a property of polygons: the property of having equal sides and equal angles
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
past form of “resume” — take up or begin anew
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
Identical; not different.
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Always at the same hour, with the regularity of an automaton, she went by our house.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The old cake woman had resumed her nightly tour, and again we heard her rapid footsteps and her shrill refrain.
Chapter 25 of The Story of a Child by Pierre Loti holds 38 sentences, grouped into 8 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 25 holds 38 sentences of The Story of a Child, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of The Story of a Child by Pierre Loti exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 38 sentences, grouped into 8 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 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 8 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 25 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 Story of a Child by Pierre Loti on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1961 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6664 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6664, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 163 minutes of reading across 393 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Story of a Child section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Story of a Child 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 Story of a Child, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
