Chapter 6 of Empire is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Empire is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him. He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat. He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees. He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character. He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
Chapter 6 of Empire is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
get temporarily
From this reading “He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.”
a telegram sent abroad
From this reading “He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.”
crowded or massed together
From this reading “He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.”
recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something
From this reading “He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.”
past form of “perch” — sit, as on a branch
From this reading “Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.”
past form of “shiver” — tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading “He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.”
in a violent manner
From this reading “He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.”
give personal assurance; guarantee
From this reading “He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.”
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.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
get temporarily
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
a telegram sent abroad
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
past form of “clasp” — hold firmly and tightly
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
more distant in especially space or time
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
crowded or massed together
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
and nothing more
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
past form of “perch” — sit, as on a branch
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
past form of “shiver” — tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading He would borrow some money from them, just enough to get back to America.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He clasped his hands, beat them against his huddled knees.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
in a violent manner
From this reading He shivered violently and drew farther back into the corner of the seat.
give personal assurance; guarantee
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading Terror perched on his shoulder and whispered to him.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He would cable friends back in America and have them identify him and vouch for his character.
Chapter 6 of Empire by Clifford D. Simak holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 413 sentences of Empire, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Empire by Clifford D. Simak exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Empire by Clifford D. Simak on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4587 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28215 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28215, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 382 minutes of reading across 918 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Empire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Empire 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 Empire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
