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Chapter 6 of Seven Men [Excerpts] is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Seven Men [Excerpts] is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated. I plied him with the spur of silence. ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse. Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’ Again I plied him with that spur.
Chapter 6 of Seven Men [Excerpts] is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense
From this reading “Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’”
plural of “destiny” — an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading “Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’”
superlative of “happy” — enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.”
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading “‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.”
inflected form of “ply” — give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
From this reading “I plied him with the spur of silence.”
a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
From this reading “I plied him with the spur of silence.”
informal terms for clothing
From this reading “Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’”
past form of “yield” — be the cause or source of
From this reading “‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.”
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 I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
anew
From this reading Again I plied him with that spur.
(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 ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
plural of “destiny” — an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
be suspended or hanging
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
superlative of “happy” — enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I plied him with the spur of silence.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
an instinctive motive
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
the force of workers available
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
on one occasion
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
inflected form of “ply” — give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
From this reading I plied him with the spur of silence.
recurring again and again
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading I plied him with the spur of silence.
a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
From this reading I plied him with the spur of silence.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Again I plied him with that spur.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘I am the happiest of men,’ he repeated.
informal terms for clothing
From this reading Absurd, the threads our destinies hang on!’
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I plied him with the spur of silence.
past form of “yield” — be the cause or source of
From this reading ‘And I owe it all to having once yielded to a bad impulse.
Chapter 6 of Seven Men [Excerpts] by Max, Sir Beerbohm holds 214 sentences, grouped into 43 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 214 sentences of Seven Men [Excerpts], unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Seven Men [Excerpts] by Max, Sir Beerbohm exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 Seven Men [Excerpts] by Max, Sir Beerbohm on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2517 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1306 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1306, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 209 minutes of reading across 504 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Seven Men [Excerpts] section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Seven Men [Excerpts] 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 Seven Men [Excerpts], each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
