---
title: The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics
description: The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his labours. Who acts: grasshoppers, tree. A sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 13, with its dependency tree and th
---

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# Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 13, sentence 4

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The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his labours.

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**Who acts:** grasshoppers, tree · **What happens:** entreat, not cut down, shelter, spare, sing, lighten · **To what, where:** Tree, grasshoppers, fruit, labours

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This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (grasshoppers, tree), 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:pg21:15:4
# text = The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his labours.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	grasshoppers	grasshopper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
5	entreated	entreat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
10	down	down	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	sheltered	shelter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	spare	spare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
23	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
24	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	sing	sing	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obl	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
29	lighten	lighten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	conj	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	labours	labour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **entreat** | past | the grasshoppers and sparrows | Tree |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **cut down** | to-infinitive | the grasshoppers and sparrows *not said here* | the tree |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset tree=Product |
| 3 | **shelter** | past | the tree | grasshoppers *= grasshopper* |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |
| 4 | **spare** | to-infinitive | the grasshoppers and sparrows *not said here* | fruit |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent it=Asset |
| 5 | **sing** *speech: express* | would | grasshoppers *= grasshopper* |  | Tree |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient |
| 6 | **lighten** | infinitive | grasshoppers *= grasshopper* *not said here* | Tree's labours |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent labour=Patient |

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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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