--- title: A motley phantasmagoria presents itself before him, which he describ… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: A motley phantasmagoria presents itself before him, which he describes in a few satirical touches, yet without expressing his opinion openly: he tells the people enough to set them all thinking and guessing; but in order to hurt nobody, he wraps his witty oracular judgments in a transparent veil, or --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/7/52/) [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/) / [Andersen's Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/) / [The Shoes of Fortune, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/7/) / 52 # Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shoes of Fortune, part 3, sentence 52 A motley phantasmagoria presents itself before him, which he describes in a few satirical touches, yet without expressing his opinion openly: he tells the people enough to set them all thinking and guessing; but in order to hurt nobody, he wraps his witty oracular judgments in a transparent veil, or rather in a lurid thundercloud, shooting forth bright sparks of wit, that they may fall in the powder-magazine of the expectant audience.” **Who acts:** motley phantasmagoria, magician, lurid thundercloud, sparks, wit · **What happens:** present, describe, express, tell, set, think · **To what, where:** phantasmagoria, few satirical touches, opinion, people, nobody, witty oracular judgments · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Shoes of Fortune, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (motley phantasmagoria, magician, lurid thundercloud, sparks), 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:pg1597:7:52 # text = A motley phantasmagoria presents itself before him, which he describes in a few satirical touches, yet without expressing his opinion openly: he tells the people enough to set them all thinking and guessing; but in order to hurt nobody, he wraps his witty oracular judgments in a transparent veil, or rather in a lurid thundercloud, shooting forth bright sparks of wit, that they may fall in the powder-magazine of the expectant audience.” 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 motley motley ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 phantasmagoria phantasmagoria NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 presents present VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 itself itself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 4 obj _ _ 6 before before ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 9 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 11 nsubj _ _ 10 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 11 describes describe VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 12 in in ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 13 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 14 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 15 satirical satirical ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 touches touch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 18 yet yet CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 19 without without SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 20 expressing express VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 11 advcl _ _ 21 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 22 nmod:poss _ _ 22 opinion opinion NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obj _ _ 23 openly openly ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 24 : : PUNCT : _ 26 punct _ _ 25 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 tells tell VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 20 parataxis _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 obj _ _ 29 enough enough ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 30 to to PART TO _ 31 mark _ _ 31 set set VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 ccomp _ _ 32 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ _ 33 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 32 nmod:unmarked _ _ 34 thinking think VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 31 xcomp _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 36 guessing guess VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 34 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 37 ; ; PUNCT : _ 46 punct _ _ 38 but but CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 39 in in SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 42 mark _ _ 40 order order NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 fixed _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 hurt hurt VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 advcl _ _ 43 nobody nobody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 42 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 45 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 wraps wrap VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 47 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 50 nmod:poss _ _ 48 witty witty ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 49 oracular oracular ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 judgments judgment NOUN NNS Number=Plur 46 obj _ _ 51 in in ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 52 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 53 transparent transparent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 amod _ _ 54 veil veil NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 61 punct _ _ 56 or or CCONJ CC _ 61 cc _ _ 57 rather rather ADV RB _ 61 advmod _ _ 58 in in ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 59 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 61 det _ _ 60 lurid lurid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 61 amod _ _ 61 thundercloud thundercloud NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 62 , , PUNCT , _ 63 punct _ _ 63 shooting shoot VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 61 acl _ _ 64 forth forth ADV RB _ 63 advmod _ _ 65 bright bright ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 66 amod _ _ 66 sparks spark NOUN NNS Number=Plur 63 obj _ _ 67 of of ADP IN _ 68 case _ _ 68 wit wit NOUN NN Number=Sing 66 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 69 , , PUNCT , _ 73 punct _ _ 70 that that SCONJ IN _ 73 mark _ _ 71 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 73 nsubj _ _ 72 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 73 aux _ _ 73 fall fall VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 ccomp _ _ 74 in in ADP IN _ 78 case _ _ 75 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 78 det _ _ 76 powder powder NOUN NN Number=Sing 78 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 77 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 76 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 78 magazine magazine NOUN NN Number=Sing 73 obl _ _ 79 of of ADP IN _ 82 case _ _ 80 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 82 det _ _ 81 expectant expectant NOUN NN Number=Sing 82 compound _ _ 82 audience audience NOUN NN Number=Sing 78 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 83 . . PUNCT . _ 73 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 84 ” " PUNCT '' _ 73 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **present** | present | a motley phantasmagoria | phantasmagoria | | | before magician | | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent itself=Theme | | 2 | **describe** | present | | | | a few satirical touches | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **express** | gerund | | magician's opinion | | | | openly *property* | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent opinion=Theme | | 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | magician | | the people | | | enough *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent people=Recipient clause=Topic | | 5 | **set** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | people | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **think** *speech: other* | gerund | | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **guess** | gerund | | | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **hurt** | to-infinitive | magician *not said here* | nobody | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer nobody=Patient | | 9 | **wrap** | present | magician | magician's witty oracular judgments | | a transparent veil | | in a lurid thundercloud | tree rules | | 10 | **shoot** | gerund | a lurid thundercloud *not said here* | bright sparks of wit | | | | forth *property* | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spark=Theme | | 11 | **fall** | may | sparks *= spark* | | | the powder magazine of the expectant audience | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in magazine=Location | | 12 | **opine** | | magician | | | | | | nom opinion «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | | 13 | **judge** | | magician | | | | | | nom judgment «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | | 14 | **spark** | | wit | | | | | | nom spark «event intransitive»: of=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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/7/51/) - next →: [sentence 53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/7/53/) - ↑ back to [The Shoes of Fortune, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/7/)