---
title: Which device did the blacksmith employ to retain the Bad Man against… — Uncle Remus, Jacky-my-lantern: the bla… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which device did the blacksmith employ to retain the Bad Man against his will? Exam question 1 of lesson 587 «Uncle Remus, Jacky-my-lantern: the blacksmith tricks the Bad Man and ends up as a light between heaven and earth» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 1 · Uncle Remus, Jacky-my-lantern: the blacksmith tricks the B…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which device did the blacksmith employ to retain the Bad Man against his will?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** device · **What happens:** do, retain · **To what, where:** blacksmith employ, Bad Man

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 587 «Uncle Remus, Jacky-my-lantern: the blacksmith tricks the Bad Man and ends up as a light between heaven and earth» 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/587-pg2306-part23/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:587-pg2306-part23:e1:1
# text = Which device did the blacksmith employ to retain the Bad Man against his will?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	device	device	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	blacksmith	blacksmith	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	employ	employ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	retain	retain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	Bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	against	against	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | which device | the blacksmith employ |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent employ=Eventuality |
| 2 | **retain** | to-infinitive | which device *not said here* | the Bad Man |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a magic chair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:587-pg2306-part23:e1:o1:1
# text = a magic chair
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	magic	magic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a spell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:587-pg2306-part23:e1:o2:1
# text = a spell
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spell	spell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a conjured chair with iron chains that holds the visitor fast forever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:587-pg2306-part23:e1:o3:1
# text = a conjured chair with iron chains that holds the visitor fast forever
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	conjured	conjure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	chains	chain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	visitor	visitor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
12	forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conjure** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **hold** | present | a conjured chair with iron chains | the visitor |  |  |  | fast, forever *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent visitor=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a conjured chair that holds the visitor fast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:587-pg2306-part23:e1:o4:1
# text = a conjured chair that holds the visitor fast
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	conjured	conjure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	visitor	visitor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conjure** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **hold** | present | a conjured chair | the visitor |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent visitor=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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