---
title: Aladdin, knowing that their task was vain, bade them undo their work… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: Aladdin, knowing that their task was vain, bade them undo their work and carry the jewels back, and the genie finished the window at his command. Who acts: task, Aladdin, genie, sir. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 31, with its dependency tree and the 
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 31, sentence 133

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Aladdin, knowing that their task was vain, bade them undo their work and carry the jewels back, and the genie finished the window at his command.

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**Who acts:** task, Aladdin, genie, sir, work · **What happens:** know, be, undo, carry back, finish, task · **To what, where:** work, jewels, window, command · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 31. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (task, Aladdin, genie, sir), 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:pg128:31:133
# text = Aladdin, knowing that their task was vain, bade them undo their work and carry the jewels back, and the genie finished the window at his command.
1	Aladdin	Aladdin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	csubj	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	task	task	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	vain	vain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	bade	bade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	undo	undo	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	jewels	jewel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
19	back	back	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	genie	genie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
24	finished	finish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	parataxis	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	at	at	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | sir's task |  |  |  |  | vain *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **undo** | present | Aladdin | sir's work |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Patient |
| 4 | **carry back** | infinitive | Aladdin *not said here* | the jewels |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent jewel=Theme |
| 5 | **finish** | past | the genie | the window |  | work's command |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality window=Eventuality |
| 6 | **task** |  | sir |  |  |  |  |  | nom task «act transitive»: poss=agent |
| 7 | **work** |  | sir |  |  |  |  |  | nom work «act intransitive»: poss=agent |
| 8 | **command** |  | work |  |  |  |  |  | nom command «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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