---
title: "Now we are here we may as well begin to dig our graves at once, sin… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: "Now we are here we may as well begin to dig our graves at once, since from this fatal spot no shipwrecked mariner has ever returned." Who acts: we, fatal spot. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 17, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every cl
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/42/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/) / 42

# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 17, sentence 42

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Now we are here we may as well begin to dig our graves at once, since from this fatal spot no shipwrecked mariner has ever returned."

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** we, fatal spot · **What happens:** be, begin, dig, shipwreck, return · **To what, where:** graves, shipwrecked mariner

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 17. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (we, fatal spot), 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:pg128:17:42
# text = "Now we are here we may as well begin to dig our graves at once, since from this fatal spot no shipwrecked mariner has ever returned."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
3	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	_
6	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
8	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	10	cc	_	_
9	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	fixed	_	_
10	begin	begin	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	dig	dig	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	graves	grave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	since	since	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
19	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	22	det	_	_
21	fatal	fatal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	spot	spot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
23	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	25	det	_	_
24	shipwrecked	shipwreck	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	amod	_	_
25	mariner	mariner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	28	advmod	_	_
28	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	22	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | we |  |  |  | now | here *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **begin** *in a quote* | present | we *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **dig** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | our graves |  |  |  |  | vn poke-19-1-1-1 «NP V NP.instrument PP.theme»: agent=Agent grave=Instrument at once=Theme |
| 4 | **shipwreck** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **return** *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive | this fatal spot *not said here* | no shipwrecked mariner |  |  | ever |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/41/)
- next →: [sentence 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/43/)
- ↑ back to [Opening, part 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/)