--- title: The fisherman did not say what the genius had told him, but he excus… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: The fisherman did not say what the genius had told him, but he excused himself from bringing them that day on account of the length of the way, and he promised to bring them next day. Who acts: fisherman. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 5, with its dep --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/5/25/) [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 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/5/) / 25 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 5, sentence 25 The fisherman did not say what the genius had told him, but he excused himself from bringing them that day on account of the length of the way, and he promised to bring them next day. **Who acts:** fisherman · **What happens:** not say, tell, excuse, bring, promise, account · **To what, where:** genius, fisherman, fish, account, length · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (fisherman), 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:pg128:5:25 # text = The fisherman did not say what the genius had told him, but he excused himself from bringing them that day on account of the length of the way, and he promised to bring them next day. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 fisherman fisherman NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 5 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 6 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 10 obj _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 genius genius NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nsubj:pass _ _ 9 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 10 told tell VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 ccomp _ _ 11 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 iobj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 13 but but CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 15 excused excuse VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 16 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 15 obj _ _ 17 from from SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 18 bringing bring VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 15 advcl _ _ 19 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 obj _ _ 20 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 21 det _ _ 21 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl:unmarked _ _ 22 on on ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 account account NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 length length NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nmod _ _ 27 of of ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 promised promise VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 conj _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 bring bring VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 36 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 obj _ _ 37 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 38 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* | past · do-support | the fisherman | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · perfect · passive | | the genius | fisherman | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **excuse** | past | fisherman | fisherman | | | | | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Theme | | 4 | **bring** | gerund | fisherman *not said here* | fish | | account of the length of the way | day | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Theme on account=Destination | | 5 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | fisherman | | | | | | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **bring** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | fisherman *not said here* | fish | | | day | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 7 | **account** | | | the length of the way | | | | | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/5/24/) - next →: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/5/26/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/5/)