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The Trumpet-Major
The Trumpet-Major

Chapter XXXI · Chapter 31

Chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for The Trumpet-Major
Context Illustration Reading 1/35 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
'Well, I am very blind and stupid.
I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.
It is my fate, I suppose.
Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'
Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Trumpet-Major

Chapter XXXI · Chapter 31

Chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/35 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
'Well, I am very blind and stupid.
/wel aɪ æm ˈveri blaɪnd ənd ˈstuːpəd/
Line 2
I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.
/aɪ hæv bɪn ˈhɜːrtɪŋ jɔːr hɑːrt ɔːl ðə taɪm wɪˈθaʊt ˈnoʊɪŋ ɪt/
Line 3
It is my fate, I suppose.
/ɪt ɪz maɪ feɪt aɪ səˈpoʊz/
Line 4
Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'
/men huː lʌv ˈwɪmən ðə ˈveri best ˈɔːlweɪz ˈblʌndər ənd ɡɪv mɔːr peɪn ðæn ðoʊz huː lʌv ðem les/
Line 5
Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

Learner Dictionary

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.

Anne noun US /æn/

Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)

From this reading “Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'”

anyhow adverb US /ˈenihaʊ/

used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement

From this reading “Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'”

blind noun US /blaɪnd/

people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group

From this reading “'Well, I am very blind and stupid.”

blunder verb US /ˈblʌndər/

commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

From this reading “Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'”

hurting noun US /ˈhɜːrtɪŋ/

a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder

From this reading “I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.”

loves noun US /lʌvz/

plural of “love” — a strong positive emotion of regard and affection

From this reading “Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'”

rightly adverb US /ˈraɪtli/

with honesty

From this reading “Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'”

stupid adjective US /ˈstuːpəd/

lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

From this reading “'Well, I am very blind and stupid.”

All words in this reading · 68

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.

alladjectiveUS /ɔːl/

(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

alwaysadverbUS /ˈɔːlweɪz/

at all times; all the time and on every occasion

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

amauxiliary verbUS /æm/

the form of “be” used with “I”

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

AnnenounUS /æn/

Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

anyhowadverbUS /ˈenihaʊ/

used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

bestnounUS /best/

the supreme effort one can make

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

blindnounUS /blaɪnd/

people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

blunderverbUS /ˈblʌndər/

commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

cannot

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

downadjectiveUS /daʊn/

being or moving lower in position or less in some value

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

fatenounUS /feɪt/

an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future

From this reading It is my fate, I suppose.

giveverbUS /ɡɪv/

cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

handsnounUS /hændz/

(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

heartnounUS /hɑːrt/

the locus of feelings and intuitions

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

herdeterminerUS /hɜːr/

belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

hurtingnounUS /ˈhɜːrtɪŋ/

a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading It is my fate, I suppose.

itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

JohnnounUS /dʒɑːn/

a room or building equipped with one or more toilets

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

knowingadjectiveUS /ˈnoʊɪŋ/

evidencing the possession of inside information

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

laidadjectiveUS /leɪd/

set down according to a plan

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

lessadverbUS /les/

used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

lookingnounUS /ˈlʊkɪŋ/

the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

lovenounUS /lʌv/

a strong positive emotion of regard and affection

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

lovedadjectiveUS /lʌvd/

held dear

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

lovesnounUS /lʌvz/

plural of “love” — a strong positive emotion of regard and affection

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

mepronounUS /miː/

the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

MennounUS /men/

the force of workers available

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

moreadjectiveUS /mɔːr/

(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

mydeterminerUS /maɪ/

belonging to the person speaking

From this reading It is my fate, I suppose.

NodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

nobodypronounUS /ˈnoʊbɑːdiː/

no person; not anyone

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

onprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

otheradjectiveUS /ˈʌðər/

not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

painnounUS /peɪn/

a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

repliedverbUS /rɪˈplaɪd/

inflected form of “reply” — react verbally

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

rightlyadverbUS /ˈraɪtli/

with honesty

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

shepronounUS /ʃiː/

a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

softlyadverbUS /ˈsɔːftli/

with low volume

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

stupidadjectiveUS /ˈstuːpəd/

lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

supposeverbUS /səˈpoʊz/

express a supposition

From this reading It is my fate, I suppose.

thanconjunctionUS /ðæn/

used to introduce the second part of a comparison

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

thempronounUS /ðem/

the people or things already mentioned, as the object

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

thosedeterminerUS /ðoʊz/

the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

timenounUS /taɪm/

an instance or single occasion for some event

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

veryadjectiveUS /ˈveri/

precisely as stated

From this reading 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

WelladverbUS /wel/

(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 'Well, I am very blind and stupid.

whopronounUS /huː/

which person or people

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

withoutprepositionUS /wɪˈθaʊt/

not having, not using, or not accompanied by

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

womennounUS /ˈwɪmən/

plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)

From this reading Men who love women the very best always blunder and give more pain than those who love them less.'

worldnounUS /wɜːrld/

everything that exists anywhere

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

worthyadjectiveUS /ˈwɜːr.ði/

Having or showing the qualities or abilities that merit recognition in character or magic.

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

yetconjunctionUS /jet/

but in spite of that

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading Anne laid one of her hands on the other as she softly replied, looking down at them, 'No one loves me as well as you, John; nobody in the world is so worthy to be loved; and yet I cannot anyhow love you rightly.'

yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/

belonging to the person or people being spoken to

From this reading I have been hurting your heart all the time without knowing it.

Chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy holds 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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.

What does chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major contain?

Chapter 31 holds 179 sentences of The Trumpet-Major, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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.

How do I study chapter 31 of The Trumpet-Major?

Work through the 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 36 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.

Can chapter 31 be read aloud to me?

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.

Questions about reading The Trumpet-Major

Common questions about reading The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Trumpet-Major?

Yes. All 6158 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2864 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Trumpet-Major is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #2864, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Trumpet-Major take to read?

About 513 minutes of reading across 1232 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Trumpet-Major section by section

How to work through The Trumpet-Major section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

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  2. Read one section

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  3. Listen and tap

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Vocabulary met early in The Trumpet-Major

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Trumpet-Major, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Present
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Trumpet-Major; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Founded
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Trumpet-Major; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Largely
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Trumpet-Major; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Testimony--oral
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Trumpet-Major; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.