The Doll by Bolesław Prus – Volume I, Chapter 2 | C1 English Audiobook with Text 🎧

🎧 Practise this chapter interactively – speaking, shadowing and vocabulary exercises – in our free web app: 👉 https://zagrosze.com/english Episode 2 of "The Doll" (Lalka), the great Polish novel by Bolesław Prus (1890), told in rich C1 (Advanced) English. Listen, read along and follow the red line under every word. 📖 Volume I, Chapter 2: "The Rule of the Old Shop Assistant" For twenty-five years Mr Ignacy Rzecki has lived in the same gloomy little room beside the shop, and his habits have not changed either. Every morning he wakes at six, washes, and walks through the shop with his old one-eyed poodle Ir, reading out the day's work and checking the goods. When the shop assistants arrive, he argues with Klejn about war and Bonapartism, trades insults with Lisiecki over grey hairs and baldness, and scolds Mraczewski for coming late, while Mraczewski fits a customer with galoshes in a flood of polite words. On Sundays, while planning the window displays, he sometimes plays like a child with the mechanical toys and then calls everything nonsense. Longing for green fields, he decides to go away for the whole summer as soon as Wokulski returns, and in secret he begins to write a diary. Will the lonely old man ever escape from his barred window? ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 Rzecki's unchanging room 1:38 His morning routine 3:20 The day's work plan 5:46 Klejn and the talk of war 7:59 Lisiecki and the quarrel 9:45 Mraczewski arrives late 12:11 The customer and the galoshes 14:55 A joke about Napoleon III 16:38 Evening accounts and gloom 18:01 Sunday window displays 19:02 The old man and the toys 21:57 Dreams of a distant journey 22:36 The secret diary 🔑 Key Vocabulary (C1) • mournful – full of sadness • cobweb – a fine net of threads spun by a spider • grating – a frame of metal bars over a window • remnants – small parts that are left over • solemnly – in a serious and formal way • puny – small, thin and weak • tartly – in a sharp, sarcastic way • grizzled – with grey or greying hair • retorted – answered sharply • indignant – angry because of unfair treatment • scapegrace – a careless rascal who causes trouble • petticoats – women's underskirts, here a joking word for women • galoshes – rubber shoes worn over ordinary shoes • witticism – a clever and funny remark • eloquence – fluent and persuasive speech • vexing – causing annoyance • undertone – a quiet, low voice • haberdashery – small articles such as ribbons, ties and buttons • pince-nez – glasses that clip onto the nose • solitary – done alone • trinkets – small decorative objects of little value • loitered – stayed or walked around without any purpose • discouraged – having lost confidence or hope • carcass – the dead body of an animal • bachelorhood – the state of being an unmarried man • prank – a playful trick • boudoir – a lady's private room • gloom – darkness and sadness • muddle – a state of confusion • torrent – a strong, fast flow • whirlpool – water that spins round rapidly • stoop – a bent position of the back 💬 Useful phrases • "Well, I am putting on flesh after all." – Mr Ignacy • "Well, sir, I would rather be a little grizzled than bald" – Mr Ignacy • "On my word of honour, it must be half past nine already." – Mraczewski • "I never chased them!" – Rzecki • "Just once before I die, but for several months" – Mr Ignacy 🚀 How to learn with this episode 1. Watch once and just enjoy the story. 2. Notice would for habits and routines: "he would tear himself up" and "Mr Ignacy would take a great key". 3. Stop after a sentence and repeat it aloud (shadowing). 4. Do the exercises for this chapter at https://zagrosze.com/english 📚 About the series • Book: The Doll (Lalka) by Bolesław Prus, 1890 (public domain) • Level: CEFR C1 (Advanced) – watch the chapters in order in our playlist! • Narration: AI-generated voice (Kokoro TTS) chosen for clear pronunciation; text adapted for learners 🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss Chapter 3 – make English part of your daily routine! #LearnEnglish #EnglishAudiobook #C1English #GradedReader #LearnEnglishThroughStories #EnglishListening #Shadowing #TheDoll #BolesławPrus