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The traitor's way
The traitor's way

Chapter III

Cover illustration for The traitor's way
Context Illustration Reading 1/35 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.
What had happened had not been my fault.
The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.
And yet I shuddered at it all.
Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.
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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 traitor's way

Chapter III

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

Line 1
THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.
Line 2
What had happened had not been my fault.
Line 3
The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.
Line 4
And yet I shuddered at it all.
Line 5
Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Been auxiliary verb US /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading “What had happened had not been my fault.”

Before preposition US /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading “Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.”

Have auxiliary verb US /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading “The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.”

Left noun US /left/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.”

Life noun US /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.”

Neither determiner US /ˈniːðər/

not one and not the other of two

From this reading “THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.”

None pronoun US /nʌn/

not one, and not any

From this reading “The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.”

Quarrel noun US /ˈkwɔːrəl/

an angry argument or disagreement

From this reading “The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.”

Right noun US /right/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.”

Thing noun US /thing/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.”

Though conjunction US /ðoʊ/

in spite of the fact that

From this reading “Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.”

Toward preposition US /təˈwɔːrd/

in the direction of

From this reading “THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.”

Upon preposition US /əˈpɑːn/

a formal word for “on”

From this reading “Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.”

Would modal verb US /wʊd/

used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past

From this reading “The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.”

Yet conjunction US /jet/

but in spite of that

From this reading “And yet I shuddered at it all.”

All words in this reading · 55

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

all

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

From this reading And yet I shuddered at it all.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading And yet I shuddered at it all.

battle

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

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

beforeprepositionUS /bɪˈfɔːr/

earlier than; in front of

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

de

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

fault

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

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

happened

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

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

heat

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

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

himpronounUS /hɪm/

the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

IpronounUS /aɪ/

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

ifconjunctionUS /ɪf/

on condition that; in the event that

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

impression

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

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

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

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading And yet I shuddered at it all.

killed

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

leftnounUS /left/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

lifenounUS /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

Lignières

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

looking

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

luck

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

mepronounUS /miː/

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

Misère

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

mydeterminerUS /maɪ/

belonging to the person speaking

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

neitherdeterminerUS /ˈniːðər/

not one and not the other of two

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

nodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

nonepronounUS /nʌn/

not one, and not any

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

norconjunctionUS /nɔːr/

and not; used after a negative to add a second negative

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

OFprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

PARTING

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

quarrelnounUS /ˈkwɔːrəl/

an angry argument or disagreement

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

rapidly

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

rightnounUS /right/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

seeking

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

shuddered

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

From this reading And yet I shuddered at it all.

surely

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

taken

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

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

thingnounUS /thing/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

ThoughconjunctionUS /ðoʊ/

in spite of the fact that

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

toparticleUS /tuː/

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

towardprepositionUS /təˈwɔːrd/

in the direction of

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

uponprepositionUS /əˈpɑːn/

a formal word for “on”

From this reading Though I had taken life before, it was in the heat of battle, and the thing had left no impression upon me.

Vallée

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

WALKED

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

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

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

WAYS

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

From this reading THE PARTING OF THE WAYS I WALKED rapidly toward the Vallée de Misère, looking neither to the right nor to the left of me.

WhatpronounUS /wʌt/

used to ask for information about something

From this reading What had happened had not been my fault.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

wouldmodal verbUS /wʊd/

used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past

From this reading The quarrel was none of my seeking, and Lignières would have surely killed me if the luck had been with him.

yetconjunctionUS /jet/

but in spite of that

From this reading And yet I shuddered at it all.