---
title: Now it was not the custom to show a slave to a private bidder, but a… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: Now it was not the custom to show a slave to a private bidder, but as no one dared to disobey the vizir his request was granted. Who acts: way, custom, one, vizir. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 29, sentence 17

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Now it was not the custom to show a slave to a private bidder, but as no one dared to disobey the vizir his request was granted.

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**Who acts:** way, custom, one, vizir · **What happens:** not be, show, dare, disobey, grant, request · **To what, where:** custom, slave, private bidder, vizir, request

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This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (way, custom, one, vizir), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg128:29:17
# text = Now it was not the custom to show a slave to a private bidder, but as no one dared to disobey the vizir his request was granted.
1	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	slave	slave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	bidder	bidder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
17	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	19	det	_	_
19	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	dared	dare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	disobey	disobey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	xcomp	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	vizir	vizir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
26	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	granted	grant	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | past | way | the custom |  |  | now |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | to-infinitive | the custom | a slave | a private bidder |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent slave=Topic to bidder=Recipient |
| 3 | **dare** | past | no one |  |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **disobey** | to-infinitive | no one *not said here* | the vizir |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **grant** | past · passive | the vizir *not said here* | custom's request |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **request** |  | custom |  |  |  |  |  | nom request «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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