---
title: One of the Dolphins replied, “We would far rather be destroyed in ou… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics
description: One of the Dolphins replied, “We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference from you in our affairs.” Who acts: One, our. A sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 4, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every c
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/66/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/) / 66

# Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 4, sentence 66

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One of the Dolphins replied, “We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference from you in our affairs.”

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** One, our · **What happens:** reply, destroy, admit, battle · **To what, where:** We, battle, interference, affairs · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (One, our), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg21:6:66
# text = One of the Dolphins replied, “We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference from you in our affairs.”
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Dolphins	Dolphin	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
7	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
11	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	destroyed	destroy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	battle	battle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	nmod	_	_
19	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	fixed	_	_
20	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
21	admit	admit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
22	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	23	det	_	_
23	interference	interference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	from	from	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	21	obl	_	_
26	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	affairs	affair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | One |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **destroy** *in a quote* | would · passive |  | We |  | our battle with each |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 3 | **admit** *speech: other* *in a quote* | infinitive |  | any interference |  | our affairs |  | from you | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent interference=Theme in affair=Location |
| 4 | **battle** *in a quote* |  | our |  |  |  |  |  | nom battle «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 65](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/65/)
- next →: [sentence 67](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/67/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop’s Fables, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/)