---
title: It was only yesterday that the news reached him that ten days previo… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: It was only yesterday that the news reached him that ten days previously the statue of brass had been thrown into the sea, and he at once set about hiding me in this underground chamber, which was built for the purpose, promising to fetch me out when the forty days have passed. Who acts: birthday, n
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 11, sentence 70

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was only yesterday that the news reached him that ten days previously the statue of brass had been thrown into the sea, and he at once set about hiding me in this underground chamber, which was built for the purpose, promising to fetch me out when the forty days have passed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** birthday, news, set · **What happens:** be, reach, throw, hide, build, promise · **To what, where:** yesterday, prophecy, statue, sea, me, underground chamber

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (birthday, news, set), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg128:11:70
# text = It was only yesterday that the news reached him that ten days previously the statue of brass had been thrown into the sea, and he at once set about hiding me in this underground chamber, which was built for the purpose, promising to fetch me out when the forty days have passed.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	yesterday	yesterday	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
11	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl:unmarked	_	_
13	previously	previously	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	statue	statue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	brass	brass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	thrown	throw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
21	into	into	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
27	at	at	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	29	advmod	_	_
29	set	set	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
30	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
31	hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	29	acl	_	_
32	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	obj	_	_
33	in	in	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
34	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	36	det	_	_
35	underground	underground	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
36	chamber	chamber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
38	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	40	nsubj:pass	_	_
39	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux:pass	_	_
40	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	36	acl:relcl	_	_
41	for	for	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
45	promising	promise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	_
46	to	to	PART	TO	_	47	mark	_	_
47	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	xcomp	_	_
48	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	47	obj	_	_
49	out	out	ADP	RP	_	47	compound:prt	_	_
50	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	55	advmod	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
52	forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	53	nummod	_	_
53	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	nsubj:pass	_	_
54	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	47	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | birthday | yesterday |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **reach** | past | the news | prophecy |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 3 | **throw** | past · perfect · passive |  | the statue of brass |  |  | day | into the sea *result*; at set | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: subject=Theme into sea=Result |
| 4 | **hide** | gerund | set *not said here* | me |  | this underground chamber |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent i=Patient in chamber=Location |
| 5 | **build** | past · passive |  | this underground chamber |  |  |  | for the purpose | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP P.asset»: subject=Product for purpose=Asset |
| 6 | **promise** *speech: promise* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 7 | **fetch out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | me |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 8 | **pass** | present · perfect · passive |  | the forty days |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory |

<!-- .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:** «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.

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