---
title: what's the cock's deal, like, why'd the fowler spare him? — Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24… · tree and pragmatics
description: what's the cock's deal, like, why'd the fowler spare him? Test 12 · ★ of lesson 154 «Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bull, a parrot scolds a cat, a stag and a sick man get their comeuppance» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics
---

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# Test 12 · ★ · Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bu…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
what's the cock's deal, like, why'd the fowler spare him?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fowler · **What happens:** be, spare · **To what, where:** deal, him

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 12 · ★ of lesson 154 «Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bull, a parrot scolds a cat, a stag and a sick man get their comeuppance» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/154-pg11339-part24/#t12).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:154-pg11339-part24:t12:1
# text = what's the cock's deal, like, why'd the fowler spare him?
1	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	deal	deal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	like	like	INTJ	UH	_	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	'd	'd	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	fowler	fowler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	spare	spare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the cock's deal |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **spare** | infinitive | the fowler | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent he=Asset |

<!-- .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 -->
cos the cock said he could tell the time and wake the whole farm at dawn, innit

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:154-pg11339-part24:t12:o1:1
# text = cos the cock said he could tell the time and wake the whole farm at dawn, innit
1	cos	cos	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	wake	wake	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	innit	innit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cos** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the cock |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | could | cock |  |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **wake** | present | you *not said here* | the whole farm |  |  | dawn |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent farm=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cos the hen said he could find food

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:154-pg11339-part24:t12:o2:1
# text = cos the hen said he could find food
1	cos	cos	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cos** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the hen |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **find** | could | he | food |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cos the cock said he could guard hens

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:154-pg11339-part24:t12:o3:1
# text = cos the cock said he could guard hens
1	cos	cos	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	guard	guard	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	hens	hen	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cos** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the cock |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **guard** | could | cock |  | hens |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hen=Beneficiary |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cos the cock said he could tell the time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:154-pg11339-part24:t12:o4:1
# text = cos the cock said he could tell the time
1	cos	cos	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cos** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the cock |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | could | cock |  |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/154-pg11339-part24/t11/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/154-pg11339-part24/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bull, a parrot scolds a cat, a stag and a sick man get their comeuppance](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/154-pg11339-part24/)