--- title: Observing that they themselves did not touch them, I was careful onl… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: Observing that they themselves did not touch them, I was careful only to pretend to taste my portion; but my companions, being very hungry, rashly ate up all that was set before them, and very soon I had the horror of seeing them become perfectly mad. Who acts: blacks, I, companions, horror. A sente --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/87/) [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 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/) / 87 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 15, sentence 87 Observing that they themselves did not touch them, I was careful only to pretend to taste my portion; but my companions, being very hungry, rashly ate up all that was set before them, and very soon I had the horror of seeing them become perfectly mad. **Who acts:** blacks, I, companions, horror · **What happens:** observe, not touch, be, pretend, taste, eat up · **To what, where:** signs, portion, that, blacks This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (blacks, I, companions, horror), 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:pg128:15:87 # text = Observing that they themselves did not touch them, I was careful only to pretend to taste my portion; but my companions, being very hungry, rashly ate up all that was set before them, and very soon I had the horror of seeing them become perfectly mad. 1 Observing observe VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 12 csubj _ _ 2 that that SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 3 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 4 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes 3 nmod:unmarked _ _ 5 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 6 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 7 advmod _ _ 7 touch touch VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 1 advcl _ _ 8 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 10 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 cop _ _ 12 careful careful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 13 only only ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 14 to to PART TO _ 15 mark _ _ 15 pretend pretend VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 advcl _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 taste taste VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 xcomp _ _ 18 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 portion portion NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 ; ; PUNCT : _ 27 punct _ _ 21 but but CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 22 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 23 nmod:poss _ _ 23 companions companion NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 25 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 cop _ _ 26 very very ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 27 hungry hungry ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 29 rashly rashly ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 ate eat VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 conj _ _ 31 up up ADP RP _ 30 compound:prt _ _ 32 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 35 det:predet _ _ 33 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 35 nsubj:pass _ _ 34 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 aux:pass _ _ 35 set set VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 30 conj _ _ 36 before before ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 40 very very ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 41 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 43 advmod _ _ 42 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 43 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 parataxis _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 horror horror NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 nsubj _ _ 46 of of SCONJ IN _ 47 mark _ _ 47 seeing see VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 45 acl _ _ 48 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 obj _ _ 49 become become VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 43 conj _ _ 50 perfectly perfectly ADV RB _ 51 advmod _ _ 51 mad mad ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **observe** | gerund | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **not** **touch** | past · do-support | blacks *= black* | signs *= sign* | | | | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme they=Co-Theme | | 3 | **is** | past | I | | | | | careful *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **pretend** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **taste** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | my portion | | | | | vn seem-109 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Theme portion=Attribute | | 6 | **is** | gerund | my companions | | | | | hungry *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **eat up** | past | my companions *not said here* | | | | | rashly *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **set** | past · passive | | that | | | before blacks *= black* | | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme before they=Destination | | 9 | **have** | past | I | | | | | soon *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 10 | **see** | gerund | the horror *not said here* | blacks *= black* | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus | | 11 | **become** | present | the horror | | | | | mad *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | 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 86](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/86/) - next →: [sentence 88](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/88/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/15/)