--- title: The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid himself… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics description: The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid himself of his enemy, saw a wagon heavily laden with wood, and went and purposely placed his head under the wheels, saying, “At least my enemy and I shall perish together.” Who acts: Snake, I. A sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» b --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/10/46/) [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/) / [Aesop’s Fables, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/10/) / 46 # Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 8, sentence 46 The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid himself of his enemy, saw a wagon heavily laden with wood, and went and purposely placed his head under the wheels, saying, “At least my enemy and I shall perish together.” **Who acts:** Snake, I · **What happens:** be, not know, rid, see, lade, go · **To what, where:** great torment, Snake, wagon, head, wheels · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Snake, I), 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:pg21:10:46 # text = The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid himself of his enemy, saw a wagon heavily laden with wood, and went and purposely placed his head under the wheels, saying, “At least my enemy and I shall perish together.” 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Snake snake NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 4 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 7 cop _ _ 5 in in ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 torment torment NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 appos _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 9 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 10 advmod _ _ 10 knowing know VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 7 conj _ _ 11 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 13 advmod _ _ 12 to to PART TO _ 13 mark _ _ 13 rid rid VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 xcomp _ _ 14 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 13 obj _ _ 15 of of ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 16 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 17 nmod:poss _ _ 17 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 19 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 20 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 wagon wagon NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ _ 22 heavily heavily ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 laden lade VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 21 acl _ _ 24 with with ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 wood wood NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 parataxis _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 30 purposely purposely ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ _ 31 placed place VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 conj _ _ 32 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 33 nmod:poss _ _ 33 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ _ 34 under under ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 wheels wheel NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 38 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 31 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 40 “ " PUNCT `` _ 44 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 41 At at ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 least least ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 44 nmod _ _ 43 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 44 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 ccomp _ _ 45 and and CCONJ CC _ 48 cc _ _ 46 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 47 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 48 aux _ _ 48 perish perish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 conj _ _ 49 together together ADV RB _ 48 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 51 ” " PUNCT '' _ 19 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | gerund | | | | great torment | | | tree rules | | 2 | **not** **know** | gerund | | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 3 | **rid** | to-infinitive | | Snake | | | | of Snake's enemy | vn deprive-10.6.2 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent himself=Source of enemy=Theme | | 4 | **see** | past | the Snake | a wagon | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wagon=Stimulus | | 5 | **lade** | participle | | a wagon *not said here* | | | | with wood; heavily *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **go** | past | | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **place** | past | | Snake's head | | the wheels | | purposely *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent head=Theme under wheel=Destination | | 8 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **perish** *in a quote* | shall | I | | | | | together *property* | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=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 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/10/45/) - next →: [sentence 47](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/10/47/) - ↑ back to [Aesop’s Fables, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/10/)