---
title: So he prostrated himself before the throne of the Caliph and tried t… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: So he prostrated himself before the throne of the Caliph and tried to obey, but the words stuck in his throat, and he remained silent. Who acts: help, words. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 34, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every claus
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 34, sentence 52

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So he prostrated himself before the throne of the Caliph and tried to obey, but the words stuck in his throat, and he remained silent.

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**Who acts:** help, words · **What happens:** prostrate, try, obey, stick, remain · **To what, where:** help, throat

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This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 34. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (help, words), 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:pg128:34:52
# text = So he prostrated himself before the throne of the Caliph and tried to obey, but the words stuck in his throat, and he remained silent.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	prostrated	prostrate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obj	_	_
5	before	before	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	throne	throne	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
19	stuck	stick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	throat	throat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	remained	remain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
27	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prostrate** | past | help | help |  |  | before the throne of the Caliph |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **try** | past | help *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **obey** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | help *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **stick** | past | the words |  |  | help's throat |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme in throat=Destination |
| 5 | **remain** | past | help |  |  |  |  | silent *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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