---
title: the peacock was dissing the crane about its colour, wasn't it? what… — Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury a… · tree and pragmatics
description: the peacock was dissing the crane about its colour, wasn't it? what did the crane say? Test 7 · ★ 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 pragmat
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Aesop's Fables, The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter: a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the peacock was dissing the crane about its colour, wasn't it? what did the crane say?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** peacock · **What happens:** dis, not be · **To what, where:** crane

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ 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. 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:t7:1
# text = the peacock was dissing the crane about its colour, wasn't it? what did the crane say?
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	peacock	peacock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	dissing	dis	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	crane	crane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	19	punct	_	_
15	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	obj	_	_
16	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	crane	crane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
19	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dis** | past · progressive | the peacock | the crane |  |  |  | about peacock's colour | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **is** | past · do-support | peacock |  |  |  |  | say *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
it could fly to heaven

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:t7:o1:1
# text = it could fly to heaven
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly** | could | it |  |  |  |  | to heaven *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to heaven=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it could soar to the sky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:t7:o2:1
# text = it could soar to the sky
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	soar	soar	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **soar** | could | it |  |  | the sky |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme to sky=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it could fly up to heaven and sing to the stars at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:t7:o3:1
# text = it could fly up to heaven and sing to the stars at night
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	sing	sing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly up** | could | it |  |  |  | night | to heaven and sing *result*; to the stars | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to heaven=Result |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
it was the same colour as the peacock's tail and it did not care

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:395-pg21-part16:t7:o4:1
# text = it was the same colour as the peacock's tail and it did not care
1	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	peacock	peacock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	care	care	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | it | the same colour |  |  |  | as the peacock's tail | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **care** | past · do-support | tail |  |  |  |  |  | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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