Chapter 26 of The Triflers is here in full — 182 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Triflers is here in full — 182 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WAR War! A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast. Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed. Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws. Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
Chapter 26 of The Triflers is here in full — 182 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
closed or squeezed together tightly
From this reading “Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.”
stubbornly unyielding
From this reading “A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.”
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading “Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.”
pleasant-smelling
From this reading “A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.”
plural of “jaw” — the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
From this reading “Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.”
the state of the sky when it is covered by clouds
From this reading “A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.”
move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading “Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.”
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 A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
closed or squeezed together tightly
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
stubbornly unyielding
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
pleasant-smelling
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
in a joyous manner
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
plural of “jaw” — the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
the force of workers available
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
the state of the sky when it is covered by clouds
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Men glanced up in startled surprise, then clenched their jaws.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading WAR War!
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading A summer sky, warm and fragrant, suddenly became dour and overcast.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
a Caucasian
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
which person or people
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading Within a day thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Women who were laughing gayly turned suddenly white.
Chapter 26 of The Triflers by Frederick Orin Bartlett holds 182 sentences, grouped into 37 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 26 holds 182 sentences of The Triflers, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Triflers by Frederick Orin Bartlett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 182 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 26 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 Triflers by Frederick Orin Bartlett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5919 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20458 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20458, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 493 minutes of reading across 1184 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Triflers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Triflers 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 Triflers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
