--- title: At first they all thought I was going to throw it into the sea, but… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: At first they all thought I was going to throw it into the sea, but they were quieted when they saw I held it with great care, and great was their surprise when I made signs that I too wished to write something. Who acts: merchants, I. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/10/16/) [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 Arabian Nights Entertainments](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/) / [Opening, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/10/) / 16 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 10, sentence 16 At first they all thought I was going to throw it into the sea, but they were quieted when they saw I held it with great care, and great was their surprise when I made signs that I too wished to write something. **Who acts:** merchants, I · **What happens:** think, go, throw, quiet, see, hold · **To what, where:** One, sea, merchants, great surprise, signs, something · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (merchants, I), 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:pg128:10:16 # text = At first they all thought I was going to throw it into the sea, but they were quieted when they saw I held it with great care, and great was their surprise when I made signs that I too wished to write something. 1 At at ADP IN _ 2 case _ _ 2 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 5 obl _ _ 3 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 4 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 3 det _ _ 5 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 5 ccomp _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 throw throw VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 xcomp _ _ 11 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 obj _ _ 12 into into ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 but but CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 17 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 aux:pass _ _ 19 quieted quiet VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 conj _ _ 20 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 22 advmod _ _ 21 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 advcl _ _ 23 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 24 held hold VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 ccomp _ _ 25 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 obj _ _ 26 with with ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 28 amod _ _ 28 care care NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 amod _ _ 32 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 34 cop _ _ 33 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nmod:poss _ _ 34 surprise surprise NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ _ 35 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 37 advmod _ _ 36 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 advcl _ _ 38 signs sign NOUN NNS Number=Plur 37 obj _ _ 39 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 42 obj _ _ 40 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 41 too too ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ _ 42 wished wish VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 acl:relcl _ _ 43 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 44 write write VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 42 xcomp _ _ 45 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 44 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | merchants *= merchant* | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 2 | **go** | past · progressive | I | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **throw** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | One | | | | into the sea *result* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Causer it=Theme into sea=Result | | 4 | **quiet** | past · passive | | merchants *= merchant* | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient | | 5 | **see** | past | merchants *= merchant* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 6 | **hold** | past | I | One | | | | with great care | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 7 | **is a** | past | | merchants's great surprise | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **make** | past | I | signs | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sign=Product | | 9 | **wish** | past | I | signs | | | | | tree rules | | 10 | **write** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | something | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=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 Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 128 (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 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/10/15/) - next →: [sentence 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/10/17/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/10/)