---
title: What was the lion's principal motive in killing the donkey, as the m… — Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the lion's principal motive in killing the donkey, as the monkey reports it? Exam question 3 of lesson 1284 «Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark, part 9: the monkey tells the shark how a greedy donkey was tricked by a hare and a lion» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with th
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1284-pg3454-part9/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1284-pg3454-part9/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark, part 9: the monkey…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the lion's principal motive in killing the donkey, as the monkey reports it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** principal motive, monkey · **What happens:** be, kill, report · **To what, where:** principal motive, donkey

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1284 «Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark, part 9: the monkey tells the shark how a greedy donkey was tricked by a hare and a lion» 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/1284-pg3454-part9/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1284-pg3454-part9:e3:1
# text = What was the lion's principal motive in killing the donkey, as the monkey reports it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	motive	motive	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	killing	kill	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	monkey	monkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	reports	report	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the lion's principal motive |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **kill** | gerund | the lion's principal motive *not said here* | the donkey |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent donkey=Theme |
| 3 | **report** | present | the monkey | donkey |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted the donkey's heart for food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1284-pg3454-part9:e3:o1:1
# text = He wanted the donkey's heart for food
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He | the donkey's heart |  |  |  | for food | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot heart=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He sought the donkey's heart for himself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1284-pg3454-part9:e3:o2:1
# text = He sought the donkey's heart for himself
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sought	seek	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seek** | past | He | the donkey's heart |  |  |  | for donkey | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent heart=Location for himself=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He craved her heart for his own meal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1284-pg3454-part9:e3:o3:1
# text = He craved her heart for his own meal
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	craved	crave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	meal	meal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crave** | past | He | her heart |  |  |  | for his own meal | vn want-32.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot heart=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted the donkey's heart for himself because he thought it was the best part

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1284-pg3454-part9:e3:o4:1
# text = He wanted the donkey's heart for himself because he thought it was the best part
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	_
9	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	16	amod	_	_
16	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He | the donkey's heart |  |  |  | for donkey | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot heart=Theme |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | donkey |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | past | heart | the best part |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1284-pg3454-part9/e2/)
- next →: [Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1284-pg3454-part9/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Indian tales, The Monkey and the Shark, part 9: the monkey tells the shark how a greedy donkey was tricked by a hare and a lion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1284-pg3454-part9/)