---
title: What was the nature of the creature encountered in Devilmoss Lake, a… — Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong H… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the nature of the creature encountered in Devilmoss Lake, and how was it overcome? Exam question 4 of lesson 1632 «Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong Hans, part 21: Hans outwits the squire's plots and beats Old Eric at Devilmoss Lake» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong Hans, part 21: Hans o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the nature of the creature encountered in Devilmoss Lake, and how was it overcome?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** nature · **What happens:** be, encounter, overcome · **To what, where:** Devilmoss Lake, nature

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1632 «Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong Hans, part 21: Hans outwits the squire's plots and beats Old Eric at Devilmoss Lake» 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/1632-pg5615-part21/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1632-pg5615-part21:e4:1
# text = What was the nature of the creature encountered in Devilmoss Lake, and how was it overcome?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	obj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	encountered	encounter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	Devilmoss	Devilmoss	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Lake	Lake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
14	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	overcome	overcome	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **encounter** | past | the nature of the creature |  |  | Devilmoss Lake |  |  | vn encounter-30.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **overcome** | past · passive |  | nature |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
A huge lake monster with long arms and a slimy body, which was finally knocked flat by many heavy blows from a wooden staff

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1632-pg5615-part21:e4:o1:1
# text = A huge lake monster with long arms and a slimy body, which was finally knocked flat by many heavy blows from a wooden staff
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	monster	monster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	slimy	slimy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
15	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	knocked	knock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
17	flat	flat	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	by	by	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
20	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	blows	blow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl:agent	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	staff	staff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **knock** | past · passive | many heavy blows from a wooden staff | long arms and a slimy body |  |  |  | finally, flat *property* | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A creature that was struck by an oar

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1632-pg5615-part21:e4:o2:1
# text = A creature that was struck by an oar
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	struck	strike	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	oar	oar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past · passive | a oar | a creature |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A huge eel, killed with a stout pole

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1632-pg5615-part21:e4:o3:1
# text = A huge eel, killed with a stout pole
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	eel	eel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	stout	stout	ADJ	NN	Degree=Pos	9	compound	_	_
9	pole	pole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | participle |  | a huge eel *not said here* |  |  |  | with a stout pole | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Old Eric, who was flattened by repeated blows of a staff

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1632-pg5615-part21:e4:o4:1
# text = Old Eric, who was flattened by repeated blows of a staff
1	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	Eric	Eric	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	flattened	flatten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	repeated	repeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	blows	blow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	staff	staff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flatten** | past · passive | repeated blows of a staff | Old Eric |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **repeat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **blow** |  | a staff |  |  |  |  |  | nom blow «act intransitive»: of=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.

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- ← previous: [Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong H…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1632-pg5615-part21/e3/)
- next →: [Danish Fairy Tales, Hans, the Mermaid'…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1633-pg5615-part22/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Popular Tales from the Norse, Strong Hans, part 21: Hans outwits the squire's plots and beats Old Eric at Devilmoss Lake](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1632-pg5615-part21/)