---
title: What is the principal lesson conveyed by the fable of the Wild Boar… — Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the principal lesson conveyed by the fable of the Wild Boar and the Fox? Exam question 4 of lesson 366 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion, part 1: a sly Fox plots to trap his foolish Ass friend in a pit for a hungry Lion» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the de
---

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# Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion, part 1: a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the principal lesson conveyed by the fable of the Wild Boar and the Fox?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** be, convey · **To what, where:** principal lesson

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 366 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion, part 1: a sly Fox plots to trap his foolish Ass friend in a pit for a hungry Lion» 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/366-pg19994-part5/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:366-pg19994-part5:e4:1
# text = What is the principal lesson conveyed by the fable of the Wild Boar and the Fox?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	Wild	Wild	PROPN	NNP	_	13	flat	_	_
13	Boar	Boar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the principal lesson |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the principal lesson *not said here* |  |  |  | by the fable of the Wild Boar and the Fox | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=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 -->
Friendship is the best guarantee of peace

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:366-pg19994-part5:e4:o1:1
# text = Friendship is the best guarantee of peace
1	Friendship	friendship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	guarantee	guarantee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	peace	peace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Friendship | the best guarantee |  |  |  | of peace | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Preparedness for war is the best guarantee of peace

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:366-pg19994-part5:e4:o2:1
# text = Preparedness for war is the best guarantee of peace
1	Preparedness	preparedness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	guarantee	guarantee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	peace	peace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Preparedness for war | the best guarantee |  |  |  | of peace | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Those who hunt for pleasure are often the first to be attacked by the stronger beasts

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:366-pg19994-part5:e4:o3:1
# text = Those who hunt for pleasure are often the first to be attacked by the stronger beasts
1	Those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	9	nsubj	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	hunt	hunt	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	pleasure	pleasure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	often	often	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	attacked	attack	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	16	amod	_	_
16	beasts	beast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunt** | present |  |  |  |  |  | for pleasure | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for pleasure=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | Those |  |  |  |  | first, often *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **attack** | to-infinitive · passive | the stronger beasts |  |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never trust a fox, for he will always betray you when you least expect it in the woods

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:366-pg19994-part5:e4:o4:1
# text = Never trust a fox, for he will always betray you when you least expect it in the woods
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	trust	trust	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	10	advmod	_	_
10	betray	betray	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	least	least	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	15	advmod	_	_
15	expect	expect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	parataxis	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	woods	wood	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **trust** | imperative | you *not said here* | a fox |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fox=Theme |
| 2 | **betray** | future | fox | you |  |  |  | always *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **expect** | infinitive | you | it |  | the woods |  | least *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/366-pg19994-part5/e3/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the Lamb:…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/367-pg19994-part6/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion, part 1: a sly Fox plots to trap his foolish Ass friend in a pit for a hungry Lion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/366-pg19994-part5/)