Chapter 31 of First Fam'lies of the Sierras is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of First Fam'lies of the Sierras is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE CARAVAN OF DEATH. The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first. And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came. Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared. Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
Chapter 31 of First Fam'lies of the Sierras is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading “The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.”
a procession (of wagons or mules or camels) traveling together in single file
From this reading “THE CARAVAN OF DEATH.”
past form of “care” — feel concern or interest
From this reading “Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.”
no person; not anyone
From this reading “Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.”
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading “Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.”
a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading “The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.”
except for; apart from
From this reading “Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.”
a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
From this reading “Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.”
move away from a place into another direction
In this reading “And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.”
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 And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
a procession (of wagons or mules or camels) traveling together in single file
From this reading THE CARAVAN OF DEATH.
past form of “care” — feel concern or interest
From this reading Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading THE CARAVAN OF DEATH.
divisible by two
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
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 Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.
immediately past
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
not any; not one
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
no person; not anyone
From this reading Nobody knew when he came, nobody cared.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE CARAVAN OF DEATH.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading The little poet had no place in the heart of the camp at the first.
except for; apart from
From this reading Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE CARAVAN OF DEATH.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
at the time that
From this reading And now at the last when he was about to go away, he held even a less place than when he came.
a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
From this reading Now that he was passing away at last, nobody, save the Widow, knew of it.
Chapter 31 of First Fam'lies of the Sierras by Joaquin Miller holds 43 sentences, grouped into 9 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 31 holds 43 sentences of First Fam'lies of the Sierras, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of First Fam'lies of the Sierras by Joaquin Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 43 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 31 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 First Fam'lies of the Sierras by Joaquin Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2838 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33220 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33220, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 236 minutes of reading across 568 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through First Fam'lies of the Sierras section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of First Fam'lies of the Sierras 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 First Fam'lies of the Sierras, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
