--- title: The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, “Pray keep at a distance and… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics description: The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, “Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you.” Who acts: Earthen Pot, Pray, Brass Pot. A sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/73/) [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/) / 73 # Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 4, sentence 73 The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, “Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you.” **Who acts:** Earthen Pot, Pray, Brass Pot · **What happens:** say, keep, not come, touch, break, mean · **To what, where:** Brass Pot, Earthen Pot, pieces, wish · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Earthen Pot, Pray, Brass Pot), 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:pg21:6:73 # text = The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, “Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you.” 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 Earthen Earthen PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 compound _ _ 3 Pot Pot PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 Brass Brass PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 compound _ _ 8 Pot pot NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 10 “ " PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 Pray Pray PROPN NNP Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 12 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 conj _ _ 13 at at ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 distance distance NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 17 do do AUX VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ _ 18 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 19 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 conj _ _ 20 near near ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 23 for for SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 24 if if SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 25 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 touch touch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 19 parataxis _ _ 27 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 26 advmod _ _ 29 so so ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 slightly slightly ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 32 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 33 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 34 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 35 aux:pass _ _ 35 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 12 parataxis _ _ 36 in in ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 pieces piece NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 40 besides besides INTJ UH _ 45 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 42 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 43 by by ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 44 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 42 obl _ _ 45 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 ccomp _ _ 46 wish wish NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 obj _ _ 47 to to PART TO _ 48 mark _ _ 48 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 46 acl _ _ 49 near near ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 50 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 48 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 45 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 52 ” " PUNCT '' _ 45 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the Earthen Pot | | the Brass Pot | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to pot=Recipient clause=Topic | | 2 | **keep** *in a quote* | infinitive | Pray | | | | | at a distance | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent at distance=Location | | 3 | **not** **come** *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support | Pray *not said here* | | | | | near the Earthen Pot *= pot* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near i=Location | | 4 | **touch** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | the Brass Pot *= pot* | the Earthen Pot *= pot* | | | ever | slightly *property* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme i=Co-Theme | | 5 | **break** *in a quote* | shall · passive | | the Earthen Pot *= pot* | | pieces | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 6 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | the Earthen Pot *= pot* | wish | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wish=Topic | | 7 | **come** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | the Earthen Pot *= pot* *not said here* | wish *not said here* | | | | near the Brass Pot *= pot* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near you=Location | 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 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/72/) - next →: [sentence 74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/74/) - ↑ back to [Aesop’s Fables, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/6/)