--- title: Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all… — The Velveteen Rabbit · tree and pragmatics description: Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/153/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Velveteen Rabbit](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/) / [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/) / 153 # The Velveteen Rabbit, Opening, sentence 153 Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him. **Who acts:** Strange people, light, Rabbit, people, one, Boy · **What happens:** come, go, burn, lie, hide, not stir · **To what, where:** nursery, sight, Rabbit · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Velveteen Rabbit» by Margery Williams Bianco, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Strange people, light, Rabbit, people), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **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:pg11757:1:153 # text = Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him. 1 Strange strange ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 nsubj _ _ 3 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 and and CCONJ CC _ 5 cc _ _ 5 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 6 in in ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 nursery nursery NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 light light NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj _ _ 13 burned burn VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 14 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 15 det _ _ 15 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl:unmarked _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 17 through through SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 19 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 24 det:predet _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 21 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 amod _ _ 22 Velveteen Velveteen PROPN NNP Number=Sing 23 compound _ _ 23 Rabbit Rabbit PROPN NNP Number=Sing 24 nsubj _ _ 24 lay lie VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 conj _ _ 25 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 24 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 hidden hide VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 24 conj _ _ 28 from from ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 sight sight NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 30 under under ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 bedclothes bedclothe NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 37 cc _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 36 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 37 advmod _ _ 37 stirred stir VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 39 for for SCONJ IN _ 42 mark _ _ 40 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 41 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 cop _ _ 42 afraid afraid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 conj _ _ 43 that that SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 44 if if SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 45 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 advcl _ _ 47 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 obj _ _ 48 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 49 det _ _ 49 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 nsubj _ _ 50 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 51 aux _ _ 51 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 ccomp _ _ 52 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 obj _ _ 53 away away ADV RB _ 51 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 54 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 55 and and CCONJ CC _ 57 cc _ _ 56 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 57 nsubj _ _ 57 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 58 that that SCONJ IN _ 61 mark _ _ 59 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 60 det _ _ 60 Boy Boy PROPN NNP Number=Sing 61 nsubj _ _ 61 needed need VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 57 ccomp _ _ 62 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 61 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 63 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come** | past | Strange people | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **go** | past | Strange people *not said here* | | | the nursery | | | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in nursery=Location | | 3 | **burn** | past | a light | | | | night | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **lie** | past | light | | | there | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **hide** | participle | light *not said here* | | | sight under the bedclothes | | | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent from sight=Beneficiary | | 6 | **not** **stir** | past | Rabbit | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **is** | past | Rabbit | | | | | afraid *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **find** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | people | Rabbit | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent he=Attribute clause=Theme | | 9 | **take away** | might | some one | Rabbit | | | | away *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 10 | **know** | past | Rabbit | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 11 | **need** | past | the Boy | Rabbit | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot he=Theme | 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. **Text:** «The Velveteen Rabbit» by Margery Williams Bianco, Project Gutenberg book 11757 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 152](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/152/) - next →: [sentence 154](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/154/) - ↑ back to [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/)