---
title: Why did the Elephant's Child go "out of his way" to spank a Hippopot… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did the Elephant's Child go "out of his way" to spank a Hippopotamus? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did the Elephant's Child go "out of his way" to spank a Hippopotamus?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Child · **What happens:** go, spank · **To what, where:** way, Hippopotamus

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» 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/80-justso-elephants-child-2/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t8:1
# text = Why did the Elephant's Child go "out of his way" to spank a Hippopotamus?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Elephant	Elephant	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	Child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	out	out	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	spank	spank	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	acl	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Hippopotamus	Hippopotamus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past · do-support | the Elephant's Child |  |  | Child's way |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme out way=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **spank** | to-infinitive | the Elephant's Child *not said here* | a Hippopotamus |  |  |  |  | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hippopotamus=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 -->
To look for the Kolokolo Bird

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t8:o1:1
# text = To look for the Kolokolo Bird
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Kolokolo	Kolokolo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Bird	Bird	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | for the Kolokolo Bird | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for bird=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To check if the Snake was right about his trunk, because the Hippo had been very rude about it

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t8:o2:1
# text = To check if the Snake was right about his trunk, because the Hippo had been very rude about it
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	check	check	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Snake	Snake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
12	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	Hippo	Hippo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
16	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	18	cop	_	_
17	very	very	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
19	about	about	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the Snake |  |  |  |  | about Snake's trunk; right *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | past · perfect | the Hippo |  |  |  |  | about trunk; rude *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To check if the Snake was right about his trunk, and to see if the Hippo would spank him back

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t8:o3:1
# text = To check if the Snake was right about his trunk, and to see if the Hippo would spank him back
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	check	check	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Snake	Snake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	see	see	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
15	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Hippo	Hippo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
18	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	spank	spank	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
20	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	back	back	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the Snake |  |  |  |  | about Snake's trunk; right *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **see** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **spank back** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | the Hippo | Snake |  |  |  |  | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To check if the Snake was right about his trunk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:t8:o4:1
# text = To check if the Snake was right about his trunk
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	check	check	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Snake	Snake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the Snake |  |  |  |  | about Snake's trunk; right *property* | tree rules |

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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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