Chapter 6 of The Royal Book of Oz is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Royal Book of Oz is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke. She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion. The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular. A large placard was posted just inside: THIS IS POKES!
Chapter 6 of The Royal Book of Oz is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted
From this reading “She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.”
the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
From this reading “The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
comparative of “gray” — of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
post in a public place
From this reading “A large placard was posted just inside:”
plural of “poke” — tall coarse perennial American herb having small white flowers followed by blackish-red berries on long drooping racemes; young fleshy stems are edible; berries and root are poisonous
From this reading “SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.”
the first light of day
From this reading “SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.”
plural of “traveler” — a person who changes location
From this reading “The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
past form of “yawn” — utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired
From this reading “She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.”
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 gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
In this reading “A large placard was posted just inside:”
In this reading “The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.”
In this reading “SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.”
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 A large placard was posted just inside:
in spite of the fact that
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
divisible by two
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
opinion or judgment
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
United States computer entrepreneur whose software company made him the youngest multi-billionaire in the history of the United States (born in 1955)
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
comparative of “gray” — of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading A large placard was posted just inside:
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THIS IS POKES!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
and nothing more
From this reading A large placard was posted just inside:
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A large placard was posted just inside:
large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
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 SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
on one occasion
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
post in a public place
From this reading A large placard was posted just inside:
plural of “poke” — tall coarse perennial American herb having small white flowers followed by blackish-red berries on long drooping racemes; young fleshy stems are edible; berries and root are poisonous
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
publicly displayed
From this reading A large placard was posted just inside:
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
term of address for a man
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
the first light of day
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading THIS IS POKES!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
plural of “traveler” — a person who changes location
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
two times
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading SIR HOKUS OF POKES It was long past sunup before Dorothy awoke.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The gates of the city were open, and although it looked even grayer in the daytime than it looked at night, the travelers were too hungry to be particular.
past form of “yawn” — utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired
From this reading She rubbed her eyes, yawned once or twice, and then shook the Cowardly Lion.
Chapter 6 of The Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson holds 175 sentences, grouped into 35 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 175 sentences of The Royal Book of Oz, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 175 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3066 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30537 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30537, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 255 minutes of reading across 614 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Royal Book of Oz section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Royal Book of Oz 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 Royal Book of Oz, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
