Chapter 8 of Four-Day Planet is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Four-Day Planet is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about. I said something like that. "It's not that," another man said. "It's Tom Kivelson." "What about him?"
Chapter 8 of Four-Day Planet is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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 pair who associate with one another
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
the number that is represented as a one followed by 6 zeros
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
having an owner; often used in combination
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
plural of “share” — assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
a thing, without saying which
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
male cat
From this reading “"It's Tom Kivelson."”
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading “Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.”
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 Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading "It's not that," another man said.
a pair who associate with one another
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "What about him?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's not that," another man said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It's Tom Kivelson."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I said something like that.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "It's not that," another man said.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
the number that is represented as a one followed by 6 zeros
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "It's not that," another man said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
having an owner; often used in combination
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading I said something like that.
plural of “share” — assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I said something like that.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
male cat
From this reading "It's Tom Kivelson."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
(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 Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What about him?"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading Well, I thought, a couple of million sols' worth of tallow-wax, in which they all owned shares, was something to get mean about.
Chapter 8 of Four-Day Planet by H. Beam Piper holds 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 8 holds 442 sentences of Four-Day Planet, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Four-Day Planet by H. Beam Piper exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 8 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 Four-Day Planet by H. Beam Piper on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3933 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19478 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19478, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 327 minutes of reading across 787 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Four-Day Planet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Four-Day Planet 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 Four-Day Planet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
