---
title: What moral lesson does the tale of Damocles convey regarding the con… — Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge:… · tree and pragmatics
description: What moral lesson does the tale of Damocles convey regarding the condition of rulers, according to the closing words of the narrative? Exam question 4 of lesson 352 «Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the bridge alone and saves Rome from Porsena's army» of the books course of Mova
---

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# Exam question 4 · Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What moral lesson does the tale of Damocles convey regarding the condition of rulers, according to the closing words of the narrative?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** tale · **What happens:** do, convey, regard, accord, condition, word · **To what, where:** tale, rulers, narrative

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 352 «Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the bridge alone and saves Rome from Porsena's army» 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/352-pg18442-part12/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:352-pg18442-part12:e4:1
# text = What moral lesson does the tale of Damocles convey regarding the condition of rulers, according to the closing words of the narrative?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	moral	moral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Damocles	Damocles	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
9	convey	convey	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	regarding	regard	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	condition	condition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	case	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	fixed	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	closing	closing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	conj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  | the tale |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tale=Eventuality |
| 2 | **convey** | present | the tale *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of Damocles; regard the condition of rulers and the closing words of the narrative | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent of damocles=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **regard** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **condition** |  |  | rulers and the closing words of the narrative |  |  |  |  | nom condition «state transitive»: of=patient |
| 6 | **word** |  |  | the narrative |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=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 -->
That kings are cruel

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:352-pg18442-part12:e4:o1:1
# text = That kings are cruel
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	cruel	cruel	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that kings |  |  |  |  | cruel *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rulers should be feared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:352-pg18442-part12:e4:o2:1
# text = Rulers should be feared
1	Rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	feared	fear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | should · passive |  | Rulers |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the rich and powerful are not so happy as they seem, since they live in constant dread of harm

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:352-pg18442-part12:e4:o3:1
# text = That the rich and powerful are not so happy as they seem, since they live in constant dread of harm
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
3	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	seem	seem	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	constant	constant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	dread	dread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | That |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **seem** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **live** | present | they |  |  | constant dread of harm |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in dread=Location |
| 4 | **dread** |  |  | harm |  |  |  |  | nom dread «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the poor are not so sad as they seem, since they live in quiet hope of rest

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:352-pg18442-part12:e4:o4:1
# text = That the poor are not so sad as they seem, since they live in quiet hope of rest
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	seem	seem	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	hope	hope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | That |  |  |  |  | sad *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **seem** | present | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **live** | present | they |  |  | quiet hope of rest |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in hope=Location |
| 4 | **hope** |  | rest |  |  |  |  |  | nom hope «feeling intransitive»: of=agent |

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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: [Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/352-pg18442-part12/e3/)
- next →: [Tales of Honor, Damon and Pythias: a f…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/353-pg18442-part13/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the bridge alone and saves Rome from Porsena's army](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/352-pg18442-part12/)