---
title: By what device did Mr. Simon persuade the rogues that his housekeepe… — Russian Fairy Tales, Mr. Simon: the ro… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what device did Mr. Simon persuade the rogues that his housekeeper had been slain? Exam question 1 of lesson 1907 «Russian Fairy Tales, Mr. Simon: the rogues drown the wrong man and are drowned themselves» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of th
---

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# Exam question 1 · Russian Fairy Tales, Mr. Simon: the rogues drown the wrong…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what device did Mr. Simon persuade the rogues that his housekeeper had been slain?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** device · **What happens:** do, persuade, slay · **To what, where:** Simon, rogues, housekeeper

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1907 «Russian Fairy Tales, Mr. Simon: the rogues drown the wrong man and are drowned themselves» 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/1907-pg7277-part44/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1907-pg7277-part44:e1:1
# text = By what device did Mr. Simon persuade the rogues that his housekeeper had been slain?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
3	device	device	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	Mr.	Mr.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:desc	_	_
6	Simon	Simon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	persuade	persuade	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	rogues	rogue	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	obj	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	housekeeper	housekeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	slain	slay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | device | Simon  Mr. |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent simon=Eventuality |
| 2 | **persuade** | present |  | the rogues |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rogue=Patient |
| 3 | **slay** | past · perfect · passive |  | device's housekeeper |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A concealed bladder of blood pierced by his knife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1907-pg7277-part44:e1:o1:1
# text = A concealed bladder of blood pierced by his knife
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	bladder	bladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	pierced	pierce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **pierce** | participle |  | a concealed bladder of blood *not said here* |  |  |  | by his knife | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A hidden knife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1907-pg7277-part44:e1:o2:1
# text = A hidden knife
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	hidden	hidden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A small hidden flask of red paint and a sharp knife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1907-pg7277-part44:e1:o3:1
# text = A small hidden flask of red paint and a sharp knife
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	hidden	hidden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	flask	flask	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	paint	paint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A goat's bladder stuffed with blood under the cloak

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1907-pg7277-part44:e1:o4:1
# text = A goat's bladder stuffed with blood under the cloak
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	bladder	bladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	stuffed	stuff	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	under	under	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cloak	cloak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stuff** | participle |  | a goat's bladder *not said here* |  | the cloak |  | with blood | vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with blood=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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