---
title: By what means did the flute-player compel the dwarf to fulfil his pr… — Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicia… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the flute-player compel the dwarf to fulfil his promise? Exam question 2 of lesson 1939 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicians, part 76: the flute-player seizes the dwarf's beard and is led over a river into a golden land» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the d
---

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# Exam question 2 · Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicians, part 76: the flu…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the flute-player compel the dwarf to fulfil his promise?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** flute player, player · **What happens:** mean, compel, fulfil, promise · **To what, where:** dwarf, promise

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1939 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicians, part 76: the flute-player seizes the dwarf's beard and is led over a river into a golden land» 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/1939-pg7277-part76/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1939-pg7277-part76:e2:1
# text = By what means did the flute-player compel the dwarf to fulfil his promise?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	flute	flute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	player	player	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	compel	compel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	fulfil	fulfil	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	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 |
| 2 | **compel** | past · do-support | the flute player | the dwarf |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dwarf=Patient |
| 3 | **fulfil** | to-infinitive | the flute player *not said here* | player's promise |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **promise** |  | player |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
By holding the dwarf's beard tightly and singing a loud spell until the dwarf gave in and promised everything

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1939-pg7277-part76:e2:o1:1
# text = By holding the dwarf's beard tightly and singing a loud spell until the dwarf gave in and promised everything
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	beard	beard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	tightly	tightly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	spell	spell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	dwarf	dwarf	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	nsubj	_	_
16	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	promised	promise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
20	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	19	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | gerund |  | the dwarf's beard |  |  |  | tightly *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beard=Theme |
| 2 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund |  | a loud spell |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location spell=Theme |
| 3 | **give in** | past | the dwarf |  |  |  |  |  | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | the dwarf *not said here* | everything |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent everything=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By threatening to cut off the dwarf's beard with a knife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1939-pg7277-part76:e2:o2:1
# text = By threatening to cut off the dwarf's beard with a knife
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	threatening	threaten	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	off	off	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	beard	beard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **threaten** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cut off** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | the dwarf's beard |  |  |  | with a knife | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector beard=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By offering the dwarf a golden coin and a warm meal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1939-pg7277-part76:e2:o3:1
# text = By offering the dwarf a golden coin and a warm meal
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	offering	offer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	coin	coin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	meal	meal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **offer** | gerund |  | a golden coin and a warm meal | the dwarf |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.goal NP»: agent=Agent dwarf=Goal coin=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By retaining the dwarf's beard until the promise was honoured

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1939-pg7277-part76:e2:o4:1
# text = By retaining the dwarf's beard until the promise was honoured
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	retaining	retain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	beard	beard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	honoured	honour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retain** | gerund |  | the dwarf's beard |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **honour** | past · passive |  | the promise |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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: [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicia…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1939-pg7277-part76/e1/)
- next →: [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicia…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1939-pg7277-part76/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Three Musicians, part 76: the flute-player seizes the dwarf's beard and is led over a river into a golden land](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1939-pg7277-part76/)