Chapter 6 of Return to Gone-Away is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Return to Gone-Away is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was cold! Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom. At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated. The midday sun blazed down on them. Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
Chapter 6 of Return to Gone-Away is here in full — 456 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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.
in a benign manner
From this reading “Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.”
past form of “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading “The midday sun blazed down on them.”
floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
From this reading “Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.”
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading “Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.”
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading “Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.”
the middle of the day
From this reading “The midday sun blazed down on them.”
very drunk
From this reading “At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.”
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading “At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.”
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 “The midday sun blazed down on them.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
in a benign manner
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
past form of “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading The midday sun blazed down on them.
the lower side of anything
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
rid of obstructions
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading It was cold!
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The midday sun blazed down on them.
past form of “drown” — cover completely or make imperceptible
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
the act of retaining something
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was cold!
and nothing more
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
the middle of the day
From this reading The midday sun blazed down on them.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
very drunk
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
(sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The midday sun blazed down on them.
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading At first they just swam and soaked and luxuriated.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Cold and delicious, and so clear that they could see the carpet of drowned leaves lying far below them on the bottom.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was cold!
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
(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 Mr. Payton swam the breast stroke holding his beard well out of the water and smiling benignly.
Chapter 6 of Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright holds 456 sentences, grouped into 92 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 456 sentences of Return to Gone-Away, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 456 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 Return to Gone-Away by Elizabeth Enright on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Return to Gone-Away section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Return to Gone-Away 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 Return to Gone-Away, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
