--- title: They came crowding round her, mocking and snatching and beating; shr… — More English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: They came crowding round her, mocking and snatching and beating; shrieking with rage and spite, and swearing and snarling, for they knew her for their old enemy, that drove them back into the corners, and kept them from working their wicked wills. Who acts: screech, that. A sentence of «More English --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/24/81/) [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/) / [More English Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/) / [More English Fairy Tales, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/24/) / 81 # More English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, part 10, sentence 81 They came crowding round her, mocking and snatching and beating; shrieking with rage and spite, and swearing and snarling, for they knew her for their old enemy, that drove them back into the corners, and kept them from working their wicked wills. **Who acts:** screech, that · **What happens:** come, crowd, mock, snatch, beat, shriek · **To what, where:** light, screech, corners, wicked wills This is a sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (screech, that), 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:pg14241:24:81 # text = They came crowding round her, mocking and snatching and beating; shrieking with rage and spite, and swearing and snarling, for they knew her for their old enemy, that drove them back into the corners, and kept them from working their wicked wills. 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 crowding crowd VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 2 xcomp _ _ 4 round round ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 7 mocking mock VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 3 conj _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 9 cc _ _ 9 snatching snatch VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 7 conj _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 beating beat VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 7 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ; ; PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 13 shrieking shriek VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 advcl _ _ 14 with with ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 rage rage NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 17 spite spite NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 19 and and CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 20 swearing swear VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 13 conj _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 snarling snarl VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 20 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 24 for for SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 25 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 27 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 for for ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 29 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 31 nmod:poss _ _ 30 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 33 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 34 nsubj _ _ 34 drove drive VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 35 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 back back ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 37 into into ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 39 corners corner NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 42 kept keep VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 43 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 obj _ _ 44 from from SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 45 working work VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 42 advcl _ _ 46 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 48 nmod:poss _ _ 47 wicked wicked ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 48 amod _ _ 48 wills will NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come** | past | screech | | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **crowd** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | round light | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme round she=Destination | | 3 | **mock** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **snatch** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **beat** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **shriek** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | with rage and spite | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with rage=Theme | | 7 | **swear** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **snarl** | gerund | screech *not said here* | | | | | | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **know** | past | screech | light | | | | for screech's old enemy | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus | | 10 | **drive back** | past | that | screech | | the corners | | | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent they=Theme into corner=Trajectory | | 11 | **keep** | past | | screech | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 12 | **work** | gerund | | screech's wicked wills | | | | | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent will=Material | | 13 | **will** | | screech | | | | | | nom will «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:** «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 14241 (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 80](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/24/80/) - next →: [sentence 82](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/24/82/) - ↑ back to [More English Fairy Tales, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/24/)