--- title: The Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his ma… — Three hundred Aesop’s fables · tree and pragmatics description: The Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master’s occupation, said, groaning: “It would have been better for me to have been either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my present owner, who will even a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/8/71/) [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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/8/) / 71 # Three hundred Aesop’s fables, Aesop’s Fables, part 6, sentence 71 The Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master’s occupation, said, groaning: “It would have been better for me to have been either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my present owner, who will even after I am dead tan my hide, and make me useful to him.” **Who acts:** Ass, Shadow, one, present owner, I, master · **What happens:** find, fall, note, say, groan, be · **To what, where:** worse hands, occupation, me, hide · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop, Aesop’s Fables, part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Ass, Shadow, one, present owner), 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:pg21:8:71 # text = The Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master’s occupation, said, groaning: “It would have been better for me to have been either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my present owner, who will even after I am dead tan my hide, and make me useful to him.” 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Ass ass NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 that that SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 fallen fall VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 ccomp _ _ 8 into into ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 worse bad ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 10 amod _ _ 10 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 13 noting note VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 19 ccomp _ _ 14 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 15 nmod:poss _ _ 15 master master NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 16 ’s 's PART POS _ 15 case _ _ 17 occupation occupation NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 19 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 21 groaning groan VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 19 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 22 : : PUNCT : _ 28 punct _ _ 23 “ " PUNCT `` _ 28 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 25 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 26 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 28 aux _ _ 27 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 28 cop _ _ 28 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 21 parataxis _ _ 29 for for SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 30 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 31 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 32 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 35 aux _ _ 33 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 35 aux:pass _ _ 34 either either CCONJ CC _ 35 cc:preconj _ _ 35 starved starve VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 28 advcl _ _ 36 by by ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 40 or or CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 42 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 44 aux _ _ 43 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 44 aux:pass _ _ 44 overworked overwork VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 19 conj _ _ 45 by by ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 obl _ _ 48 of of ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 49 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 51 nmod:poss _ _ 50 former former ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 amod _ _ 51 masters master NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 53 than than SCONJ IN _ 57 mark _ _ 54 to to PART TO _ 57 mark _ _ 55 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 57 aux _ _ 56 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 57 aux:pass _ _ 57 bought buy VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 44 conj _ _ 58 by by ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 59 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 61 nmod:poss _ _ 60 present present NOUN NN Number=Sing 61 compound _ _ 61 owner owner NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 62 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 63 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 70 nsubj _ _ 64 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 70 aux _ _ 65 even even ADV RB _ 70 advmod _ _ 66 after after ADP IN _ 69 case _ _ 67 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 68 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 69 cop _ _ 69 dead dead ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 70 obl _ _ 70 tan tan VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 61 acl:relcl _ _ 71 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 72 nmod:poss _ _ 72 hide hide NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 73 , , PUNCT , _ 75 punct _ _ 74 and and CCONJ CC _ 75 cc _ _ 75 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 76 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 75 obj _ _ 77 useful useful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 75 xcomp _ _ 78 to to ADP IN _ 79 case _ _ 79 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 77 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 80 . . PUNCT . _ 75 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 81 ” " PUNCT '' _ 75 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **find** | past | the Ass | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 2 | **fall** | past · perfect | Shadow | | | | | into worse hands *result* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into hand=Result | | 3 | **note** | gerund | | Shadow's master's occupation | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent occupation=Topic | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 5 | **groan** | gerund | | | | | | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **is** *in a quote* | would · perfect | Ass | | | | | good *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **starve** *in a quote* | to-infinitive · perfect · passive | the one | me | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **overwork** *in a quote* | to-infinitive · perfect · passive | | | | | | by the other | tree rules | | 9 | **buy** *in a quote* | to-infinitive · perfect · passive | my present owner | | | | | | vn accept-77.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent | | 10 | **is** *in a quote* | present | I | | | | | dead *property* | tree rules | | 11 | **tan** *in a quote* | future | my present owner | my hide | | | | | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hide=Patient | | 12 | **make** *in a quote* | infinitive | | me | | | | useful *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset i=Product | | 13 | **occupy** | | Shadow's master | | | | | | nom occupation «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/8/70/) - next →: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/8/72/) - ↑ back to [Aesop’s Fables, part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/8/)