---
title: When they had dragged the nets to the shore they found but few fish:… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics
description: When they had dragged the nets to the shore they found but few fish: the nets were full of sand and stones, and the men were beyond measure cast down so much at the disappointment which had befallen them, but because they had formed such very different expectations. Who acts: nets, men. A sentence o
---

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# Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 11, sentence 15

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When they had dragged the nets to the shore they found but few fish: the nets were full of sand and stones, and the men were beyond measure cast down so much at the disappointment which had befallen them, but because they had formed such very different expectations.

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**Who acts:** nets, men · **What happens:** drag, find, be, cast down, befall, form · **To what, where:** nets, shore, measure, disappointment, such different expectations

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This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (nets, men), 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:pg21:13:15
# text = When they had dragged the nets to the shore they found but few fish: the nets were full of sand and stones, and the men were beyond measure cast down so much at the disappointment which had befallen them, but because they had formed such very different expectations.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	dragged	drag	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	nets	net	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shore	shore	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	nets	net	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
18	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	nsubj	_	_
28	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	measure	measure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	parataxis	_	_
31	cast	cast	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	acl	_	_
32	down	down	ADP	RP	_	31	compound:prt	_	_
33	so	so	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	much	much	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
35	at	at	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	disappointment	disappointment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
38	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	40	nsubj:pass	_	_
39	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
40	befallen	befall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	37	acl:relcl	_	_
41	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
43	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	47	cc	_	_
44	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	47	mark	_	_
45	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
46	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	aux	_	_
47	formed	form	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
48	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	51	amod	_	_
49	very	very	ADV	RB	_	50	advmod	_	_
50	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	51	amod	_	_
51	expectations	expectation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	47	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drag** | past · perfect · passive |  | nets *= net* |  |  |  | to the shore but few fish | tree rules |
| 2 | **find** | past | nets *= net* | the shore but few fish *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shore=Topic |
| 3 | **is** | past | the nets |  |  |  |  | of sand and stones; full *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** | past | the men |  |  |  |  | beyond measure | tree rules |
| 5 | **cast down** | participle |  | measure *not said here* |  | the disappointment |  |  | vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent at disappointment=Destination |
| 6 | **befall** | past · perfect · passive |  | the disappointment |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **form** | past · perfect | nets *= net* | such different expectations |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location expectation=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:** «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.

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