Chapter 21 of The Unjust Steward is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Unjust Steward is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HOW TO SET IT RIGHT. “What is the matter, mother?” Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side. The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale. He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
Chapter 21 of The Unjust Steward is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
an illustration that is drawn by hand and published in a book, magazine, or newspaper
From this reading “Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.”
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.”
the food served and eaten at one time
From this reading “He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.”
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.”
possessive form of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
very light colored; highly diluted with white
From this reading “The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.”
only a very short time before
From this reading “He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.”
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.”
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 “He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.”
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.
(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 He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
an illustration that is drawn by hand and published in a book, magazine, or newspaper
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HOW TO SET IT RIGHT.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “What is the matter, mother?”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading HOW TO SET IT RIGHT.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “What is the matter, mother?”
the food served and eaten at one time
From this reading He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “What is the matter, mother?”
possessive form of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
very light colored; highly diluted with white
From this reading The minister had come to dinner, looking ill and pale.
precisely, exactly
From this reading HOW TO SET IT RIGHT.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
only a very short time before
From this reading He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading HOW TO SET IT RIGHT.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Elsie said, drawing close to her mother’s side.
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “What is the matter, mother?”
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading He had scarcely spoken all through the meal.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading HOW TO SET IT RIGHT.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What is the matter, mother?”
Chapter 21 of The Unjust Steward by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant holds 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 21 holds 138 sentences of The Unjust Steward, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Unjust Steward by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 21 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 Unjust Steward by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3388 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55166 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55166, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 282 minutes of reading across 678 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Unjust Steward section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of The Unjust Steward 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 Unjust Steward, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
