---
title: But being in danger brightens one's wits, and he sprang so nimbly, t… — Grimm's Fairy Stories · tree and pragmatics
description: But being in danger brightens one's wits, and he sprang so nimbly, this way and that, keeping clear of the chopper, that not a blow struck him, and he did not get even a scratch. Who acts: being, Tom, blow. A sentence of «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm, The Travels of Tom Thumb, with its depe
---

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# Grimm's Fairy Stories, The Travels of Tom Thumb, sentence 62

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But being in danger brightens one's wits, and he sprang so nimbly, this way and that, keeping clear of the chopper, that not a blow struck him, and he did not get even a scratch.

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**Who acts:** being, Tom, blow · **What happens:** be, brighten, spring, keep, strike, not get · **To what, where:** danger, wits, way, Tom, scratch

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This is a sentence of «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm, The Travels of Tom Thumb. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (being, Tom, blow), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg11027:22:62
# text = But being in danger brightens one's wits, and he sprang so nimbly, this way and that, keeping clear of the chopper, that not a blow struck him, and he did not get even a scratch.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	being	be	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	csubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	brightens	brighten	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	wits	wit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	sprang	spring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	nimbly	nimbly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	17	det	_	_
17	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
22	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	xcomp	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	chopper	chopper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
28	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	blow	blow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
31	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
32	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
36	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
37	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	38	advmod	_	_
38	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	conj	_	_
39	even	even	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
40	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	scratch	scratch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | gerund |  |  |  | danger |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in danger=Location |
| 2 | **brighten** | present | being | one's wits |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent wit=Patient |
| 3 | **spring** | past | Tom | this way |  |  |  | nimbly *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **keep** | gerund | Tom *not said here* |  |  |  |  | clear *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **strike** | past | a blow | Tom |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent he=Instrument |
| 6 | **not** **get** | past · do-support | Tom | a scratch |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer scratch=Stimulus |

<!-- .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.

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**Text:** «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm, Project Gutenberg book 11027 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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