---
title: Oi, what was the Pygmy's comeback when Hercules asked about his soul? — Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pyg… · tree and pragmatics
description: Oi, what was the Pygmy's comeback when Hercules asked about his soul? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 2054 «Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish off the sleeping Hercules, but he wakes, laughs at their champion, spares them, and leaves» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Oi, what was the Pygmy's comeback when Hercules asked about his soul?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Hercules · **What happens:** be, ask · **To what, where:** comeback

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 2054 «Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish off the sleeping Hercules, but he wakes, laughs at their champion, spares them, and leaves» 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/2054-pg976-part13/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:t9:1
# text = Oi, what was the Pygmy's comeback when Hercules asked about his soul?
1	Oi	oi	INTJ	UH	_	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Pygmy	Pygmy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	comeback	comeback	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
10	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	about	about	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	soul	soul	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the Pygmy's comeback |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Hercules |  |  |  |  | about Hercules's soul | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.topic whether S»: agent=Agent about soul=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
As large as yours!" he said, quite smug

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:t9:o1:1
# text = As large as yours!" he said, quite smug
1	As	as	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	yours	your	PRON	PRP	Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	smug	smug	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As big as your own!" he said, dead confident, and puffed out his chest

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:t9:o2:1
# text = As big as your own!" he said, dead confident, and puffed out his chest
1	As	as	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	ccomp	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	confident	confident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	puffed	puff	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	conj	_	_
16	out	out	ADP	RP	_	15	compound:prt	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	chest	chest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | he | dead confident |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **puff out** *in a quote* | participle | he *not said here* | his chest |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location chest=Source |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As big as your own!" he said, dead confident, and then stood tall

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:t9:o3:1
# text = As big as your own!" he said, dead confident, and then stood tall
1	As	as	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	confident	confident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
16	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
17	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | he | dead confident |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **stand** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  |  | then | tall *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"As big as your own!" he said, dead confident

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:t9:o4:1
# text = "As big as your own!" he said, dead confident
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	As	as	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	ccomp	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	confident	confident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | he | dead confident |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent confident=Topic |

<!-- div src -->

**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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