--- title: The second of these is an improvement on its predecessor, but Mr. Ja… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics description: The second of these is an improvement on its predecessor, but Mr. James, either out of compliance with the wishes of the publishers, or in condescension to the taste prevalent some twenty years ago, has so freely introduced as the point of the fable conventional English sayings which are not sanctio --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/1/129/) [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/) / [Three hundred Aesop’s fables](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/) / [Literally Translated From the Greek](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/1/) / 129 # Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Literally Translated From the Greek, sentence 129 The second of these is an improvement on its predecessor, but Mr. James, either out of compliance with the wishes of the publishers, or in condescension to the taste prevalent some twenty years ago, has so freely introduced as the point of the fable conventional English sayings which are not sanctioned by the Greek, and which in many instances are scarcely equivalent to it, that his version frequently approaches a paraphrase rather than a translation. **Who acts:** these, Greek, version, publishers · **What happens:** be, introduce, not sanction, approach, wish, point · **To what, where:** predecessor, conventional English sayings, instance, many instances, paraphrase, fable This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Literally Translated From the Greek. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (these, Greek, version, publishers), 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:pg21:1:129 # text = The second of these is an improvement on its predecessor, but Mr. James, either out of compliance with the wishes of the publishers, or in condescension to the taste prevalent some twenty years ago, has so freely introduced as the point of the fable conventional English sayings which are not sanctioned by the Greek, and which in many instances are scarcely equivalent to it, that his version frequently approaches a paraphrase rather than a translation. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 second second ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 42 advcl _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 4 these this PRON DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 7 nsubj _ _ 5 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 7 cop _ _ 6 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 improvement improvement NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ _ 8 on on ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ _ 10 predecessor predecessor NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 12 but but CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 13 Mr. Mr. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 14 nmod:desc _ _ 14 James James PROPN NNP Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 either either CCONJ CC _ 19 cc:preconj _ _ 17 out out ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 19 compliance compliance NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 appos _ _ 20 with with ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 wishes wish NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 nmod _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 publishers publisher NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 27 or or CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 28 in in ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 condescension condescension NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 conj _ _ 30 to to ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 32 taste taste NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 compound _ _ 33 prevalent prevalent NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod _ _ 34 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 36 det _ _ 35 twenty twenty NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 36 nummod _ _ 36 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 37 obl:unmarked _ _ 37 ago ago ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 39 has have AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 40 so so ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ _ 41 freely freely ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ _ 42 introduced introduce VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 43 as as ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 point point NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ _ 46 of of ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 fable fable NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 nmod _ _ 49 conventional conventional ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 amod _ _ 50 English English PROPN NNP Number=Sing 51 compound _ _ 51 sayings saying NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 nmod _ _ 52 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 55 nsubj:pass _ _ 53 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 55 aux:pass _ _ 54 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 55 advmod _ _ 55 sanctioned sanction VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 51 acl:relcl _ _ 56 by by ADP IN _ 58 case _ _ 57 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 58 det _ _ 58 Greek Greek PROPN NNP Number=Sing 55 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 67 punct _ _ 60 and and CCONJ CC _ 67 cc _ _ 61 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 67 nsubj _ _ 62 in in ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 63 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 64 amod _ _ 64 instances instance NOUN NNS Number=Plur 67 obl _ _ 65 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 67 cop _ _ 66 scarcely scarcely ADV RB _ 67 advmod _ _ 67 equivalent equivalent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 58 amod _ _ 68 to to ADP IN _ 69 case _ _ 69 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 67 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 70 , , PUNCT , _ 75 punct _ _ 71 that that SCONJ IN _ 75 mark _ _ 72 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 73 nmod:poss _ _ 73 version version NOUN NN Number=Sing 75 nsubj _ _ 74 frequently frequently ADV RB _ 75 advmod _ _ 75 approaches approach VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 55 conj _ _ 76 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 77 det _ _ 77 paraphrase paraphrase NOUN NN Number=Sing 75 obj _ _ 78 rather rather ADV RB ExtPos=CCONJ 81 cc _ _ 79 than than ADP IN _ 78 fixed _ _ 80 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 81 det _ _ 81 translation translation NOUN NN Number=Sing 77 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 82 . . PUNCT . _ 42 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | present | these | | | improvement's predecessor | | of a improvement | tree rules | | 2 | **introduce** | present · perfect | | | | | | as the point of the fable conventional English sayings; freely *property* | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 3 | **not** **sanction** | present · passive | the Greek | conventional English sayings | | | | | vn allow-64.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Beneficiary | | 4 | **is** | present | the Greek | | instance | many instances | | equivalent, scarcely *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **approach** | present | James's version | a paraphrase rather a translation | | | | frequently *property* | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paraphrase=Theme | | 6 | **wish** | | the publishers or condescension to the taste prevalent | | | | | | nom wish «feeling intransitive»: of=agent | | 7 | **point** | | | the fable | | | | | nom point «cognition 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:** «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Project Gutenberg book 21 (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 128](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/1/128/) - next →: [sentence 130](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/1/130/) - ↑ back to [Literally Translated From the Greek](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/1/)