---
title: In an instant I was soaring upwards, much quicker than an arrow coul… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: In an instant I was soaring upwards, much quicker than an arrow could fly, and I felt as if I must be getting so near the sky that I should soon hit my head against it! Who acts: I, arrow. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 38, with its dependency tree an
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 38, sentence 45

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In an instant I was soaring upwards, much quicker than an arrow could fly, and I felt as if I must be getting so near the sky that I should soon hit my head against it!

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I, arrow · **What happens:** soar, fly, feel, get, hit · **To what, where:** sky

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (I, arrow), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg128:38:45
# text = In an instant I was soaring upwards, much quicker than an arrow could fly, and I felt as if I must be getting so near the sky that I should soon hit my head against it!
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	soaring	soar	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	upwards	upwards	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	much	much	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	quicker	quick	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	parataxis	_	_
11	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	arrow	arrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
20	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
21	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
22	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
23	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	aux	_	_
25	getting	get	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	advcl	_	_
26	so	so	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
27	near	near	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
30	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	34	obj	_	_
31	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
32	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	34	advmod	_	_
34	hit	hit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	acl:relcl	_	_
35	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	_
37	against	against	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **soar** | past · progressive | I |  |  |  |  | in a instant; upwards *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient in instant=Attribute |
| 2 | **fly** | could | a arrow |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **feel** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 4 | **get** | must · progressive | I | the sky |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sky=Stimulus |
| 5 | **hit** | should | I | the sky |  |  |  | against arrow; soon *property* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP ADJP»: agent=Agent that=Patient head=Result |

<!-- .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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