---
title: did the narrator just beg for mercy or what? — Arabian Nights, The Third Calender, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: did the narrator just beg for mercy or what? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 174 «Arabian Nights, The Third Calender, part 14: the narrator smashes the talisman, and the genius catches him» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Arabian Nights, The Third Calender, part 14: the narrator…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
did the narrator just beg for mercy or what?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** do · **To what, where:** narrator

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 174 «Arabian Nights, The Third Calender, part 14: the narrator smashes the talisman, and the genius catches him» 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/174-pg128-part14/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:174-pg128-part14:t10:1
# text = did the narrator just beg for mercy or what?
1	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	beg	beg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	mercy	mercy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the narrator |  |  |  | beg for mercy *obl* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent narrator=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
yeah, he begged the genius to spare his life and promised to become a holy man

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:174-pg128-part14:t10:o1:1
# text = yeah, he begged the genius to spare his life and promised to become a holy man
1	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	begged	beg	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	genius	genius	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	spare	spare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	promised	promise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	become	become	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	holy	holy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | he | the genius |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent genius=Recipient |
| 2 | **spare** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | his life |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent life=Asset |
| 3 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **become** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | a holy man |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
yeah, he begged for the princess's life

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:174-pg128-part14:t10:o2:1
# text = yeah, he begged for the princess's life
1	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	begged	beg	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | he |  |  |  |  | for the princess's life | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent for life=Topic |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
yeah, he asked for his life to be spared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:174-pg128-part14:t10:o3:1
# text = yeah, he asked for his life to be spared
1	yeah	yeah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	spared	spare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | he |  |  |  |  | for his life | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **spare** | to-infinitive · passive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset» |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
nah, he refused to beg and asked the genius to kill him quickly instead

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:174-pg128-part14:t10:o4:1
# text = nah, he refused to beg and asked the genius to kill him quickly instead
1	nah	nah	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	beg	beg	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	genius	genius	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
13	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
15	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **beg** *speech: request* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | he *not said here* | the genius |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent genius=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **kill** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the genius *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  | instead, quickly *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

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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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