Chapter 6 of Mortmain is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Mortmain is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Why should we fret that others ride? Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee. "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable. How long is it since I have used a cushion! Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"
Chapter 6 of Mortmain is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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 temporary associate
From this reading “Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"”
a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses
From this reading “How long is it since I have used a cushion!”
worry unnecessarily or excessively
From this reading “"Why should we fret that others ride?”
great merriment
From this reading “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
From this reading “Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"”
-ing form of “recollect” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
third-person singular of “sit” — be seated
From this reading “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
conducive to or feeling mental discomfort
From this reading “"All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.”
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 “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
In this reading “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
be inactive or indifferent while something is happening
In this reading “Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.”
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 How long is it since I have used a cushion!
(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 "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
a light cylindrical box for holding light articles of attire (especially hats)
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
a temporary associate
From this reading Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
the body of faculty and students of a college
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
worry unnecessarily or excessively
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
great merriment
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
plural of “look” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
by chance
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"
the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
From this reading Poverty makes a poor bedfellow!"
-ing form of “recollect” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
Identical; not different.
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
third-person singular of “sit” — be seated
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
conducive to or feeling mental discomfort
From this reading "All the same that old bandbox looks not uncomfortable.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Perhaps dull care sits by their side, And leaves us foot-men free!" he hummed to himself, recollecting an old college glee.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading How long is it since I have used a cushion!
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Why should we fret that others ride?
Chapter 6 of Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 424 sentences of Mortmain, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 Mortmain by Arthur Cheney Train on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6207 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37346 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37346, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 517 minutes of reading across 1242 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mortmain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Mortmain 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 Mortmain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
