Chapter 4 of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally. One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it. Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked. I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality. A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
Chapter 4 of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales is here in full — 373 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
plural of “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading “One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.”
plural of “allusion” — passing reference or indirect mention
From this reading “One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.”
the trait of extreme cruelty
From this reading “I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.”
confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading “I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.”
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading “One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.”
usually; as a rule
From this reading “MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.”
A person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially with foreign countries.
From this reading “MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.”
an offspring of a black and a white parent
From this reading “Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.”
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 man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
plural of “acquaintance” — personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
plural of “allusion” — passing reference or indirect mention
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
a youthful male person
From this reading Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.
the trait of extreme cruelty
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
usually; as a rule
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.
overly eager speed (and possible carelessness)
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
A person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially with foreign countries.
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
an offspring of a black and a white parent
From this reading Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.
on the contrary
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A man I knew remonstrated with me for my hastiness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
past form of “talk” — exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading Perhaps the mulatto boy had talked.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I must confess that people appeared rather scandalised, but not with Jacobus’s brutality.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading One or two of my acquaintances made distant allusions to it.
in the company of; together with
From this reading MY little passage with Jacobus the merchant became known generally.
Chapter 4 of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales by Joseph Conrad holds 373 sentences, grouped into 75 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 4 holds 373 sentences of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales by Joseph Conrad exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 373 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 4 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 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales by Joseph Conrad on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5078 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1055 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1055, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 423 minutes of reading across 1016 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales 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 'Twixt Land & Sea: Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
