--- title: King Canute on the Seashore. — Fifty Famous Stories Retold · full text with trees description: King Canute on the Seashore., «Fifty Famous Stories Retold» by James Baldwin: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: A hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great there was a king of England named Ca-nute. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/) [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/) / [Fifty Famous Stories Retold](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/) / King Canute on the Seashore. # King Canute on the Seashore. King Canute on the Seashore. of «Fifty Famous Stories Retold» by James Baldwin: the whole text, 29 sentences and 430 words. Every sentence has its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself; 1 of them are in the tales treebank and were checked by a teacher model. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/1/) — A hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great there was a king of England named Ca-nute. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/2/) — King Canute was a Dane; but the Danes were not so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were at war with King Alfred. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/3/) — The great men and of-fi-cers who were around King Canute were always praising him. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/4/) — "You are the greatest man that ever lived," one would say. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/5/) — Then an-oth-er would say, "O king! there can never be an-oth-er man so mighty as you." - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/6/) — And another would say, "Great Canute, there is nothing in the world that dares to dis-o-bey you." - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/7/) — The king was a man of sense, and he grew very tired of hearing such foolish speeches. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/8/) — One day he was by the sea-shore, and his of-fi-cers were with him. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/9/) — They were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/10/) — He thought that now he would teach them a lesson, and so he bade them set his chair on the beach close by the edge of the water. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/11/) — "Am I the greatest man in the world?" he asked. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/12/) — "O king!" they cried, "there is no one so mighty as you." - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/13/) — "Do all things obey me?" he asked. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/14/) — "There is nothing that dares to dis-o-bey you, O king!" they said. " - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/15/) — The world bows before you, and gives you honor." - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/16/) — "Will the sea obey me?" he asked; and he looked down at the little waves which were lapping the sand at his feet. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/17/) — The foolish officers were puzzled, but they did not dare to say "No." - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/18/) — "Command it, O king! and it will obey," said one. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/19/) — "Sea," cried Canute, "I command you to come no farther! - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/20/) — Waves, stop your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!" - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/21/) — But the tide came in, just as it always did. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/22/) — The water rose higher and higher. — checked by a teacher - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/23/) — It came up around the king's chair, and wet not only his feet, but also his robe. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/24/) — His officers stood about him, alarmed, and won-der-ing whether he was not mad. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/25/) — Then Canute took off his crown, and threw it down upon the sand. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/26/) — "I shall never wear it again," he said. " - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/27/) — And do you, my men, learn a lesson from what you have seen. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/28/) — There is only one King who is all-powerful; and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/5/29/) — It is he whom you ought to praise and serve above all others." - ← previous: [King Alfred and the Beggar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/4/) - next →: [The Sons of William the Conqueror.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/6/) - ↑ back to [Fifty Famous Stories Retold](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg18442/)