--- title: "The man's answer was absolutely absurd, as you will agree, when I t… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: "The man's answer was absolutely absurd, as you will agree, when I tell you that it was nothing less than the hand of the princess my sister; but though all the bystanders laughed and mocked, and I was beside myself with rage, I saw to my despair that my father could not make up his mind to treat th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/38/41/) [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 38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/38/) / 41 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 38, sentence 41 "The man's answer was absolutely absurd, as you will agree, when I tell you that it was nothing less than the hand of the princess my sister; but though all the bystanders laughed and mocked, and I was beside myself with rage, I saw to my despair that my father could not make up his mind to treat the insolent proposal as it deserved. **Who acts:** answer, you, I, bystanders, father, man · **What happens:** be, agree, tell, laugh, mock, see · **To what, where:** you, nothing, despair, insolent proposal · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 38. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (answer, you, I, bystanders), 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:pg128:38:41 # text = "The man's answer was absolutely absurd, as you will agree, when I tell you that it was nothing less than the hand of the princess my sister; but though all the bystanders laughed and mocked, and I was beside myself with rage, I saw to my despair that my father could not make up his mind to treat the insolent proposal as it deserved. 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 4 's 's PART POS _ 3 case _ _ 5 answer answer NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 7 absolutely absolutely ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 absurd absurd ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 10 as as SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 11 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 agree agree VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 15 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 17 advmod _ _ 16 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 tell tell VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 ccomp _ _ 18 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 17 iobj _ _ 19 that that SCONJ IN _ 22 mark _ _ 20 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 21 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 cop _ _ 22 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 17 ccomp _ _ 23 less less ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 22 amod _ _ 24 than than ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ _ 27 of of ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 princess princess NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nmod _ _ 30 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 31 nmod:poss _ _ 31 sister sister NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 32 ; ; PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 33 but but CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 34 though though SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 37 det:predet _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 bystanders bystander NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nsubj _ _ 38 laughed laugh VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 parataxis _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 40 mocked mock VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 43 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 44 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 46 cop _ _ 45 beside beside ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 myself myself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 40 advcl _ _ 47 with with ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 48 rage rage NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 50 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 51 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 conj _ _ 52 to to ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 53 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 54 nmod:poss _ _ 54 despair despair NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obl _ _ 55 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 60 obj _ _ 56 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 57 nmod:poss _ _ 57 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 nsubj _ _ 58 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 60 aux _ _ 59 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 60 advmod _ _ 60 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 54 acl:relcl _ _ 61 up up ADP RP _ 60 compound:prt _ _ 62 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 63 nmod:poss _ _ 63 mind mind NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 obj _ _ 64 to to PART TO _ 65 mark _ _ 65 treat treat VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 60 advcl _ _ 66 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 68 det _ _ 67 insolent insolent NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 compound _ _ 68 proposal proposal NOUN NN Number=Sing 65 obj _ _ 69 as as SCONJ IN _ 71 mark _ _ 70 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 71 nsubj _ _ 71 deserved deserve VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 65 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 72 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** *in a quote* | past | the man's answer | | | | | absolutely, absurd *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **agree** *speech: agree* *in a quote* | future | you | | | | | | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | I | | you | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient | | 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | answer | nothing | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **laugh** *in a quote* | past | all bystanders | | | | | | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **mock** *in a quote* | past | all bystanders *not said here* | | | | | with rage | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **is** *in a quote* | past | I | | | | | beside myself | tree rules | | 8 | **see** *in a quote* | past | I | | | | | to my despair | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 9 | **not** **make up** *in a quote* | could | my father | my despair | | | | | tree rules | | 10 | **treat** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | my father *not said here* | the insolent proposal | | | | | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent proposal=Recipient | | 11 | **deserve** *in a quote* | past | answer | | | | | | tree rules | | 12 | **answer** *in a quote* | | the man | | | | | | nom answer «communication transitive»: poss=agent | | 13 | **despair** *in a quote* | | my | | | | | | nom despair «state intransitive»: poss=agent | | 14 | **mind** *in a quote* | | father | | | | | | nom mind «cognition 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 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/38/40/) - next →: [sentence 42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/38/42/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/38/)