---
title: By what means did the gazelle dispatch the serpent? — Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the G… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the gazelle dispatch the serpent? Exam question 1 of lesson 1773 «Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the Gazelle, part 24: the gazelle slays the seven-headed snake» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Exam question 1 · Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the Gazelle, part 24: the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the gazelle dispatch the serpent?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **What happens:** mean, do, dispatch · **To what, where:** gazelle, serpent · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1773 «Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the Gazelle, part 24: the gazelle slays the seven-headed snake» 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/1773-pg641-part24/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1773-pg641-part24:e1:1
# text = By what means did the gazelle dispatch the serpent?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	gazelle	gazelle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	dispatch	dispatch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the gazelle |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gazelle=Eventuality |
| 3 | **dispatch** | present |  | the serpent |  |  |  |  | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent serpent=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 -->
By cutting its body into many pieces at dawn while it slept

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1773-pg641-part24:e1:o1:1
# text = By cutting its body into many pieces at dawn while it slept
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
10	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	slept	sleep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | gerund |  | its body |  | many pieces | dawn |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent body=Material into piece=Product |
| 2 | **sleep** | past | body |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By cutting off its tail with an axe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1773-pg641-part24:e1:o2:1
# text = By cutting off its tail with an axe
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut off** | gerund |  | its tail |  |  |  | with a axe | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector tail=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By severing its seven heads with a sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1773-pg641-part24:e1:o3:1
# text = By severing its seven heads with a sword
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	severing	sever	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sever** | gerund |  | its seven heads |  |  |  | with a sword | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By stabbing it through the heart with a spear and then burning the remains

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1773-pg641-part24:e1:o4:1
# text = By stabbing it through the heart with a spear and then burning the remains
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	stabbing	stab	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
12	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	remains	remains	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stab** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | through the heart with a spear | vn poke-19-1-1 «NP V NP PP.patient»: agent=Agent it=Instrument through heart=Patient |
| 2 | **burn** | gerund |  | the remains |  |  | then |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent remains=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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- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the G…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1773-pg641-part24/t12/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, Sultan Darai and the G…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1773-pg641-part24/e2/)
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