---
title: The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree fell to the earth w… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree fell to the earth with a sigh; he felt a pang--it was like a swoon; he could not think of happiness, for he was sorrowful at being separated from his home, from the place where he had sprung up. Who acts: axe, Tree. A sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tal
---

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# Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir Tree, sentence 63

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The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree fell to the earth with a sigh; he felt a pang--it was like a swoon; he could not think of happiness, for he was sorrowful at being separated from his home, from the place where he had sprung up.

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**Who acts:** axe, Tree · **What happens:** strike, fall, feel, be, not think, separate · **To what, where:** pith, pang, place

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This is a sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Fir Tree. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (axe, Tree), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg1597:10:63
# text = The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree fell to the earth with a sigh; he felt a pang--it was like a swoon; he could not think of happiness, for he was sorrowful at being separated from his home, from the place where he had sprung up.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	deep	deep	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	very	very	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	pith	pith	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Tree	Tree	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	sigh	sigh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
21	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	pang	pang	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
27	like	like	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	swoon	swoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
32	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
34	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	happiness	happiness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
38	for	for	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
39	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
40	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	cop	_	_
41	sorrowful	sorrowful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	parataxis	_	_
42	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	44	mark	_	_
43	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	44	aux:pass	_	_
44	separated	separate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	41	advcl	_	_
45	from	from	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	47	nmod:poss	_	_
47	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
49	from	from	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
52	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	55	advmod	_	_
53	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
54	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	sprung	spring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	51	acl:relcl	_	_
56	up	up	ADP	RP	_	55	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | the axe |  |  | the pith |  | deep *property* | vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into pith=Location |
| 2 | **fall** | past | the Tree |  |  |  |  | to the earth; with a sigh | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to earth=Theme |
| 3 | **feel** | past | Tree | a pang |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pang=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | past | axe |  |  |  |  | like a swoon | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **think** *speech: other* | could | Tree |  |  | the place |  | of happiness | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **is** | past | Tree |  |  |  |  | sorrowful *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **separate** | gerund · passive | Tree *not said here* |  |  |  |  | from Tree's home | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle PP»: from home=Co-Patient |
| 8 | **spring up** | past · perfect | Tree |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, Project Gutenberg book 1597 (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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