---
title: As I wandered about, seeking anxiously for some means of escaping fr… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: As I wandered about, seeking anxiously for some means of escaping from this trap, I observed that the ground was strewed with diamonds, some of them of an astonishing size. Who acts: I. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 14, with its dependency tree and t
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 14, sentence 29

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As I wandered about, seeking anxiously for some means of escaping from this trap, I observed that the ground was strewed with diamonds, some of them of an astonishing size.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I · **What happens:** wander, seek, mean, escape, observe, strew · **To what, where:** trap, ground · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I), 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:pg128:14:29
# text = As I wandered about, seeking anxiously for some means of escaping from this trap, I observed that the ground was strewed with diamonds, some of them of an astonishing size.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wandered	wander	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	nsubj	_	_
4	about	about	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	seeking	seek	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
7	anxiously	anxiously	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	obl	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	escaping	escape	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	ccomp	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
15	trap	trap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	observed	observe	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	strewed	strew	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	ccomp	_	_
24	with	with	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	diamonds	diamond	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
27	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	33	nsubj	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nmod	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
31	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	astonishing	astonish	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	33	amod	_	_
33	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wander** | past | I |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **seek** | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for some; anxiously *property* | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for some=Theme |
| 3 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **escape** | gerund |  |  |  | this trap |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from trap=Initial\_Location |
| 5 | **observe** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **strew** | past · passive |  | the ground |  |  |  | with diamonds and a astonishing size | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: subject=Destination with diamond=Theme |
| 7 | **astonish** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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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