---
title: What is the principal lesson conveyed by the conclusion of this narr… — Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Cov… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the principal lesson conveyed by the conclusion of this narrative? Exam question 4 of lesson 1183 «Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Covan the Brown-Haired, part 49: Ardan herds the old man's cows and is turned to stone» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree
---

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# Exam question 4 · Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Covan the Brown-Haired,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the principal lesson conveyed by the conclusion of this narrative?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be, convey, conclude · **To what, where:** principal lesson, narrative

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1183 «Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Covan the Brown-Haired, part 49: Ardan herds the old man's cows and is turned to stone» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1183-pg3027-part49/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1183-pg3027-part49:e4:1
# text = What is the principal lesson conveyed by the conclusion of this narrative?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	12	det	_	_
12	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the principal lesson |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the principal lesson *not said here* |  |  |  | by the conclusion of this narrative | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **conclude** |  |  | this narrative |  |  |  |  | nom conclusion «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that one should always obey the stronger party

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1183-pg3027-part49:e4:o1:1
# text = that one should always obey the stronger party
1	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obey** | should | that one | the stronger party |  |  |  | always *property* | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent party=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that a promise once given must be honoured faithfully, even when the cost is great and the reward is far away

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1183-pg3027-part49:e4:o2:1
# text = that a promise once given must be honoured faithfully, even when the cost is great and the reward is far away
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	advmod	_	_
5	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	honoured	honour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	advcl	_	_
9	faithfully	faithfully	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
11	even	even	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	cost	cost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	reward	reward	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
20	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
21	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	22	advmod	_	_
22	away	away	ADV	RB	_	16	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  | once *property* | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **honour** | must · passive |  | a promise |  |  |  | faithfully *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | the cost |  |  |  |  | great *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** | present | the reward |  |  |  |  | away, far *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that old men should never be trusted

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1183-pg3027-part49:e4:o3:1
# text = that old men should never be trusted
1	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	trusted	trust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **man** |  | that |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **trust** | should · passive |  | old men |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
that a promise once given must be honoured faithfully

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1183-pg3027-part49:e4:o4:1
# text = that a promise once given must be honoured faithfully
1	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	advmod	_	_
5	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	honoured	honour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	faithfully	faithfully	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  | a promise *not said here* |  |  |  | once *property* | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **honour** | must · passive |  | a promise |  |  |  | faithfully *property* | tree rules |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Cov…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1183-pg3027-part49/e3/)
- next →: [Celtic Fairy Tales, Gorla of the Flock…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1184-pg3027-part50/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Contes des Fées, The Adventures of Covan the Brown-Haired, part 49: Ardan herds the old man's cows and is turned to stone](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1183-pg3027-part49/)