---
title: Which moral lesson is conveyed by the conduct of the Ass in this fab… — Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which moral lesson is conveyed by the conduct of the Ass in this fable? Exam question 4 of lesson 387 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which moral lesson is conveyed by the conduct of the Ass in this fable?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** conduct · **What happens:** convey, conduct · **To what, where:** moral lesson, fable, Ass

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 387 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten» 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/387-pg21-part8/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e4:1
# text = Which moral lesson is conveyed by the conduct of the Ass in this fable?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
2	moral	moral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Ass	Ass	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	det	_	_
14	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **convey** | present · passive | the conduct of the Ass | which moral lesson |  | this fable |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |
| 2 | **conduct** |  |  | the Ass |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act 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 -->
one should never wish for another's life, because hidden troubles lie under every easy path

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e4:o1:1
# text = one should never wish for another's life, because hidden troubles lie under every easy path
1	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	wish	wish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	hidden	hidden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	troubles	trouble	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	lie	lie	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
14	under	under	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	det	_	_
16	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **wish** | should | one |  |  |  |  | for another's life | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for life=Theme |
| 2 | **lie** | present | hidden troubles |  |  | every easy path |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent under path=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
everyone should be satisfied with their own fortune and do their proper duty in life

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e4:o2:1
# text = everyone should be satisfied with their own fortune and do their proper duty in life
1	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	satisfied	satisfied	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	fortune	fortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	duty	duty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | should | everyone |  |  |  |  | with their own fortune; satisfied *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | present | everyone *not said here* | their proper duty |  | life |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duty=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
one should be content with one's own lot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e4:o3:1
# text = one should be content with one's own lot
1	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	content	content	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | should | one |  |  |  |  | with one's own lot; content *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
always work hard and rest well

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e4:o4:1
# text = always work hard and rest well
1	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	2	advmod	_	_
2	work	work	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	rest	rest	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | always, hard *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **rest** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/387-pg21-part8/e3/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Cat and the Birds:…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/388-pg21-part9/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/387-pg21-part8/)