Chapter 13 of The Son of His Mother is here in full — 538 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The Son of His Mother is here in full — 538 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly. They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices. Oh, how quickly the time flew. It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one. The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
Chapter 13 of The Son of His Mother is here in full — 538 sentences across 108 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/107 · 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 timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading “It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.”
European weed naturalized in southwestern United States and Mexico having reddish decumbent stems with small fernlike leaves and small deep reddish-lavender flowers followed by slender fruits that stick straight up; often grown for forage
From this reading “The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.”
in the recent past
From this reading “It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.”
with relatively high volume
From this reading “The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.”
shake, as from cold
From this reading “The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.”
plural of “temple” — place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
From this reading “The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.”
used as intensifiers
From this reading “The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.”
past form of “tick” — make a clicking or ticking sound
From this reading “The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.”
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 “They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.”
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 It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
rid of obstructions
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
European weed naturalized in southwestern United States and Mexico having reddish decumbent stems with small fernlike leaves and small deep reddish-lavender flowers followed by slender fruits that stick straight up; often grown for forage
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Oh, how quickly the time flew.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh, how quickly the time flew.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
in the recent past
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
with relatively high volume
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, how quickly the time flew.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
compacted by ironing
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
with speed
From this reading Oh, how quickly the time flew.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
shake, as from cold
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading It had quite lately been evening--midnight--and now the clock on the mantel-piece already struck a short, clear, hard one.
plural of “temple” — place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
used as intensifiers
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
past form of “tick” — make a clicking or ticking sound
From this reading The clocks in the house ticked terribly loudly.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Oh, how quickly the time flew.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
a message informing of danger
From this reading They could be heard through the silence of the night like warning voices.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The lonely woman pressed her hands to her temples with a shudder.
Chapter 13 of The Son of His Mother by Clara Viebig holds 538 sentences, grouped into 108 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 13 holds 538 sentences of The Son of His Mother, unabridged, divided into 108 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Son of His Mother by Clara Viebig exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 538 sentences, grouped into 108 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 108 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 108 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 13 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 Son of His Mother by Clara Viebig on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6807 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30732 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30732, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 567 minutes of reading across 1362 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Son of His Mother section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Son of His Mother 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 Son of His Mother, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
