Chapter 6 of Ben, the Luggage Boy is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Ben, the Luggage Boy is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY. Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him. After a while he became sleepy. Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before. As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
Chapter 6 of Ben, the Luggage Boy is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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 mountain or tall hill
From this reading “Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.”
a long seat for more than one person
From this reading “As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.”
a street in Manhattan noted for cheap hotels frequented by homeless derelicts
From this reading “A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.”
providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief (“comfy” is informal)
From this reading “As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.”
large or relatively large in number or amount or extent or degree
From this reading “Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.”
held or filled or in use
From this reading “Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.”
ready to fall asleep
From this reading “After a while he became sleepy.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.”
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 BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
later than; following
From this reading After a while he became sleepy.
anew
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading After a while he became sleepy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
a mountain or tall hill
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
a long seat for more than one person
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
in addition to; as well as
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
a street in Manhattan noted for cheap hotels frequented by homeless derelicts
From this reading A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief (“comfy” is informal)
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
large or relatively large in number or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading After a while he became sleepy.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
engage in
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
not any; not one
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
held or filled or in use
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
on one occasion
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
From this reading Ben sat down again in his old seat, and occupied himself once more in looking about him.
ready to fall asleep
From this reading After a while he became sleepy.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A BEER-GARDEN IN THE BOWERY.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading Besides having taken a considerable walk, he had not slept much the night before.
(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 As no one occupied the bench but himself, he thought he might as well make himself comfortable.
during the time that
From this reading After a while he became sleepy.
Chapter 6 of Ben, the Luggage Boy by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 6 holds 154 sentences of Ben, the Luggage Boy, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Ben, the Luggage Boy by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 6 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 Ben, the Luggage Boy by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3480 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28381 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28381, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 290 minutes of reading across 696 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ben, the Luggage Boy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Ben, the Luggage Boy 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 Ben, the Luggage Boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
