Chapter VI of The Phantom Violin, “A Strange Catch,” is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VI
Chapter VI of The Phantom Violin, “A Strange Catch,” is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
In the meantime there were things to do. The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night. Balsam tips must be gathered. These are nature’s mattresses. Over these their blankets must be spread.
Chapter VI of The Phantom Violin, “A Strange Catch,” is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
be able to spare or give up
From this reading “The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.”
any seed plant yielding balsam
From this reading “Balsam tips must be gathered.”
plural of “blanket” — bedding that keeps a person warm in bed
From this reading “Over these their blankets must be spread.”
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading “The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.”
plural of “mattress” — a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed
From this reading “These are nature’s mattresses.”
the time between one event, process, or period and another
From this reading “In the meantime there were things to do.”
possessive form of “nature” — the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
plural of “tip” — the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading “Balsam tips must be gathered.”
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.
during the intervening time
In this reading “In the meantime there were things to do.”
In this reading “The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.”
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 The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
be able to spare or give up
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading These are nature’s mattresses.
any seed plant yielding balsam
From this reading Balsam tips must be gathered.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
plural of “blanket” — bedding that keeps a person warm in bed
From this reading Over these their blankets must be spread.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
brought together in one place
From this reading Balsam tips must be gathered.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
plural of “mattress” — a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed
From this reading These are nature’s mattresses.
the time between one event, process, or period and another
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
possessive form of “nature” — the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading These are nature’s mattresses.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
above and across; more than
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
distribute or disperse widely
From this reading Over these their blankets must be spread.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Over these their blankets must be spread.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
in or at that place or location
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading These are nature’s mattresses.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
plural of “tip” — the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading Balsam tips must be gathered.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The boat must be dragged up and turned over, to afford them a shelter for the night.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading In the meantime there were things to do.
Chapter 6 of The Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 190 sentences of The Phantom Violin, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 The Phantom Violin by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4180 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #44294 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #44294, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 348 minutes of reading across 836 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Phantom Violin section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Phantom Violin 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 The Phantom Violin, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
