Chapter 1 of The White Plumes of Navarre is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Plumes of Navarre is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris. Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572. It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew. The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal. The Louvre was one blaze of lights.
Chapter 1 of The White Plumes of Navarre is here in full — 80 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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.
the month following July and preceding September
From this reading “Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.”
a strong flame that burns brightly
From this reading “The Louvre was one blaze of lights.”
not breathing or able to breathe except with difficulty
From this reading “Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.”
past form of “brood” — think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading “Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.”
past form of “clash” — crash together with violent impact
From this reading “The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.”
(Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
From this reading “It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew.”
an art museum that is a famous tourist attraction in Paris
From this reading “The Louvre was one blaze of lights.”
plural of “war” — the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading “A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.”
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 “Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
(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 Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
the month following July and preceding September
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
a strong flame that burns brightly
From this reading The Louvre was one blaze of lights.
not breathing or able to breathe except with difficulty
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
past form of “brood” — think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
past form of “clash” — crash together with violent impact
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
(Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
From this reading It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
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 A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew.
and nothing more
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading The Louvre was one blaze of lights.
an art museum that is a famous tourist attraction in Paris
From this reading The Louvre was one blaze of lights.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The Louvre was one blaze of lights.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
above and across; more than
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
a relationship between two lovers
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
a person who has died and has been declared a saint by canonization
From this reading It was the eve of Saint Bartholomew.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Breathless heat had brooded over the city all Saturday, the 23rd of August, 1572.
any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading The bell of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois had just clashed out the signal.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
plural of “war” — the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A Romance of the Wars of Religion The night was hot in Paris.
Chapter 1 of The White Plumes of Navarre by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett holds 80 sentences, grouped into 16 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 1 holds 80 sentences of The White Plumes of Navarre, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Plumes of Navarre by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 80 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 1 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 White Plumes of Navarre by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5231 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33215 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33215, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 435 minutes of reading across 1047 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Plumes of Navarre section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The White Plumes of Navarre 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 White Plumes of Navarre, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
