Chapter 6 of Through the Wheat is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Through the Wheat is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe. It held a curious fascination for him. Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled. But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected. What nice leather.
Chapter 6 of Through the Wheat is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
knock against with force or violence
From this reading “Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.”
(of hair) making curls or having been made to curl
From this reading “Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.”
the state of being intensely interested (as by awe or terror)
From this reading “It held a curious fascination for him.”
so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
From this reading “At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.”
footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material
From this reading “At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.”
superlative of “thick” — not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.”
one of the digits of the foot
From this reading “Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.”
plural of “toe” — one of the digits of the foot
From this reading “But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.”
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.
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 At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
knock against with force or violence
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
(of hair) making curls or having been made to curl
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
the state of being intensely interested (as by awe or terror)
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
marked by the wearing of heavy boots studded with hobnails
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It held a curious fascination for him.
immediately past
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
From this reading What nice leather.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading What nice leather.
not one, and not any
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
(especially of incident sound or light) bent or sent back
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
past form of “regard” — deem to be
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
superlative of “thick” — not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
one of the digits of the foot
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
plural of “toe” — one of the digits of the foot
From this reading But none of his other toes reached to the end of the shoe, he reflected.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What nice leather.
in or at the place that
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading At last, out of sight of every one, in the thickest of the woods, he sat upon a small hill and regarded his misshapen, hobnailed shoe.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, the little bump was where the small toe curled.
Chapter 6 of Through the Wheat by Thomas Boyd holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 423 sentences of Through the Wheat, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Through the Wheat by Thomas Boyd exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 Through the Wheat by Thomas Boyd on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3837 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58796 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58796, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 319 minutes of reading across 768 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Through the Wheat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Through the Wheat 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 Through the Wheat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
