--- title: It was now dark, and as the prince could see nothing, he was obliged… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: It was now dark, and as the prince could see nothing, he was obliged, not without some feeling of disquiet, to allow the horse to direct his own course, and midnight was already passed before Prince Firouz Schah again touched the ground, faint and weary from his long ride, and from the fact that he --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/37/90/) [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 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/37/) / 90 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 37, sentence 90 It was now dark, and as the prince could see nothing, he was obliged, not without some feeling of disquiet, to allow the horse to direct his own course, and midnight was already passed before Prince Firouz Schah again touched the ground, faint and weary from his long ride, and from the fact that he had eaten nothing since early morning. **Who acts:** earth, Firouz · **What happens:** be, see, oblige, allow, direct, pass · **To what, where:** nothing, Firouz, horse, own course, midnight, ground This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 37. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (earth, Firouz), 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:pg128:37:90 # text = It was now dark, and as the prince could see nothing, he was obliged, not without some feeling of disquiet, to allow the horse to direct his own course, and midnight was already passed before Prince Firouz Schah again touched the ground, faint and weary from his long ride, and from the fact that he had eaten nothing since early morning. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 4 dark dark ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 7 as as ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 prince prince NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ _ 10 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 11 see see VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 12 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux:pass _ _ 16 obliged oblige VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 11 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 18 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 21 advmod _ _ 19 without without ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 20 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 21 det _ _ 21 feeling feeling NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 22 of of ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 disquiet disquiet ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 25 to to PART TO _ 26 mark _ _ 26 allow allow VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 11 conj _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 horse horse NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 iobj _ _ 29 to to PART TO _ 30 mark _ _ 30 direct direct VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 xcomp _ _ 31 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 33 nmod:poss _ _ 32 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 33 amod _ _ 33 course course NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 36 midnight midnight NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj:pass _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux:pass _ _ 38 already already ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 passed pass VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 40 before before SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 41 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 42 nmod:desc _ _ 42 Firouz Firouz PROPN NNP Number=Sing 45 nsubj _ _ 43 Schah Schah PROPN NNP Number=Sing 42 flat _ _ 44 again again ADV RB _ 45 advmod _ _ 45 touched touch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 advcl _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 49 faint faint ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 50 and and CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 51 weary weary ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 conj _ _ 52 from from ADP IN _ 55 case _ _ 53 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 55 nmod:poss _ _ 54 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 55 amod _ _ 55 ride ride NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 64 punct _ _ 57 and and CCONJ CC _ 64 cc _ _ 58 from from ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 59 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 60 det _ _ 60 fact fact NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 obl _ _ 61 that that SCONJ IN _ 64 mark _ _ 62 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 64 nsubj _ _ 63 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 64 aux _ _ 64 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 4 conj _ _ 65 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 64 obj _ _ 66 since since ADP IN _ 68 case _ _ 67 early early ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 68 amod _ _ 68 morning morning NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 69 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | earth | | | | now | dark *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **see** | could | | nothing | | | | as the prince | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer nothing=Stimulus as prince=Attribute | | 3 | **oblige** | past · passive | | Firouz | | | | without some feeling of disquiet | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 4 | **allow** | to-infinitive | | | the horse | | | | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer horse=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **direct** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | Firouz's own course | | | | | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent course=Eventuality | | 6 | **pass** | past · passive | | midnight | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory | | 7 | **touch** | past | Firouz Prince | the ground | | | again | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ground=Co-Theme | | 8 | **eat** | past · perfect | Firouz | nothing | | the fact | morning | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Patient | | 9 | **ride** | | Firouz | | | | | | nom ride «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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 89](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/37/89/) - next →: [sentence 91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/37/91/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/37/)