---
title: What fate befell the Ass after he divided the spoil fairly among the… — Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury a… · tree and pragmatics
description: What fate befell the Ass after he divided the spoil fairly among the three partners? Exam question 4 of lesson 395 «Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter: a poor carpenter smashes his idol and gets gold» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and prag
---

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# Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter: a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What fate befell the Ass after he divided the spoil fairly among the three partners?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** fate · **What happens:** befall, divide · **To what, where:** Ass, spoil

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 395 «Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter: a poor carpenter smashes his idol and gets gold» 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/395-pg21-part16/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:e4:1
# text = What fate befell the Ass after he divided the spoil fairly among the three partners?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	fate	fate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	befell	befall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Ass	ass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	divided	divide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	spoil	spoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	fairly	fairly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
12	among	among	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	nummod	_	_
15	partners	partner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **befall** | past | what fate | the Ass |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **divide** | past | fate | the spoil |  |  |  | among the three partners; fairly *property* | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spoil=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he was devoured by the Lion in a rage

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:e4:o1:1
# text = he was devoured by the Lion in a rage
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	devoured	devour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	rage	rage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **devour** | past · passive | the Lion | he |  | a rage |  |  | vn devour-39.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he went home with a bag of gold and lived happily for many years on the farm

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:e4:o2:1
# text = he went home with a bag of gold and lived happily for many years on the farm
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	home	home	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	happily	happily	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
15	on	on	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | he |  |  |  |  | with a bag of gold; home *property* | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent with bag=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **live** | past | he *not said here* |  |  | the farm | year | happily *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on farm=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he was eaten by the Lion

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:e4:o3:1
# text = he was eaten by the Lion
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · passive | the Lion | he |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he was devoured by the Lion in a rage, after the Lion decided the division was unfair

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:e4:o4:1
# text = he was devoured by the Lion in a rage, after the Lion decided the division was unfair
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	devoured	devour	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	rage	rage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	decided	decide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	division	division	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **devour** | past · passive | the Lion | he |  | a rage |  |  | vn devour-39.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **decide** | past | the Lion |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | the division |  |  |  |  | unfair *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/395-pg21-part16/e3/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Hedgeh…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/396-pg21-part17/t1/)
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