Chapter 2 of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Bel_. Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder! Sir _Tim_. Well, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_. And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
Chapter 2 of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading “And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?”
pleasing or delighting
From this reading “Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!”
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading “And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?”
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading “And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?”
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading “Well, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_.”
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?”
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading “Well, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_.”
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 Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
the qualities that give pleasure to the senses
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels
From this reading _Bel_.
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
pleasing or delighting
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading Well, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
term of address for a man
From this reading Sir _Tim_.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading And canst thou think this Beauty meant for thee, for thee, dull common Man?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir _Tim_.
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading Well, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
(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, Sir, ‘tis granted-- _Bel_.
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading Is she not charming fair--fair to a wonder!
Chapter 2 of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Aphra Behn holds 398 sentences, grouped into 80 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 2 holds 398 sentences of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Aphra Behn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 398 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 2 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 Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Aphra Behn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14996 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10039 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10039, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3000 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III 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 Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
