---
title: On certain occasions he almost believes that to get drunk is a duty… — Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Musc… · tree and pragmatics
description: On certain occasions he almost believes that to get drunk is a duty he owes either to the Church, or to the memory of the Dead; at times without the slightest apparent cause, he is seized by a sudden and irresistible craving for ardent spirits, and he commences a drinking-bout which lasts--with inte
---

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# Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore, Chapter I. INTRODUCTORY, part 4, sentence 48

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On certain occasions he almost believes that to get drunk is a duty he owes either to the Church, or to the memory of the Dead; at times without the slightest apparent cause, he is seized by a sudden and irresistible craving for ardent spirits, and he commences a drinking-bout which lasts--with intervals of coma--for days, or even weeks, after which he resumes his everyday life and his usual sobriety as calmly as if no interruption had taken place.

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**Who acts:** friend, drunk, sudden craving, drinking bout · **What happens:** believe, get, be, owe, seize, commence · **To what, where:** certain occasions, duty, Church, friend, drinking bout, everyday life

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This is a sentence of «Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore», Chapter I. INTRODUCTORY, 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 (friend, drunk, sudden craving, drinking bout), 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:pg22373:14:48
# text = On certain occasions he almost believes that to get drunk is a duty he owes either to the Church, or to the memory of the Dead; at times without the slightest apparent cause, he is seized by a sudden and irresistible craving for ardent spirits, and he commences a drinking-bout which lasts--with intervals of coma--for days, or even weeks, after which he resumes his everyday life and his usual sobriety as calmly as if no interruption had taken place.
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	occasions	occasion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	believes	believe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
10	drunk	drunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	duty	duty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	owes	owe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
16	either	either	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	15	advmod	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	Church	Church	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	memory	memory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	appos	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	Dead	Dead	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
31	without	without	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
33	slightest	slight	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	35	amod	_	_
34	apparent	apparent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
37	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	nsubj	_	_
38	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	39	aux:pass	_	_
39	seized	seize	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
40	by	by	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
41	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
42	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
44	irresistible	irresistible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	conj	_	_
45	craving	craving	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
46	for	for	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	ardent	ardent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	45	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
51	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
52	commences	commence	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	39	conj	_	_
53	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
54	drinking	drinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	54	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	bout	bout	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obj	_	_
57	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	58	nsubj	_	_
58	lasts	last	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	56	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	61	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	with	with	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
61	intervals	interval	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	58	obl	_	_
62	of	of	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
63	coma	coma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	61	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	66	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	for	for	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
66	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
68	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	70	cc	_	_
69	even	even	ADV	RB	_	70	advmod	_	_
70	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	75	punct	_	_
72	after	after	ADP	IN	_	73	case	_	_
73	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	75	obl	_	_
74	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	75	nsubj	_	_
75	resumes	resume	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	39	parataxis	_	_
76	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	78	nmod:poss	_	_
77	everyday	everyday	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	78	amod	_	_
78	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	75	obj	_	_
79	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	82	cc	_	_
80	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	82	nmod:poss	_	_
81	usual	usual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	82	amod	_	_
82	sobriety	sobriety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	78	conj	_	_
83	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	90	cc	_	_
84	calmly	calmly	ADV	RB	_	83	fixed	_	_
85	as	as	ADP	IN	_	83	fixed	_	_
86	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	90	mark	_	_
87	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	88	det	_	_
88	interruption	interruption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	90	nsubj:pass	_	_
89	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	90	aux	_	_
90	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	75	conj	_	_
91	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	90	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
92	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	39	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | present | friend | certain occasions and times without the slightest apparent cause |  |  |  | almost *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive | friend *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is a** | present | drunk | a duty |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **owe** | present | friend | a duty *not said here* | the Church |  |  | either *property* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent duty=Theme to church=Goal |
| 5 | **seize** | present · passive | a sudden craving for ardent spirits | friend |  | certain occasions and times without the slightest apparent cause | week |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 6 | **commence** | present | friend | a drinking bout |  |  | day |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bout=Eventuality |
| 7 | **last** | present | a drinking bout |  |  |  |  | with intervals of coma | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **resume** | present | friend | friend's everyday life and friend's usual sobriety |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Eventuality |
| 9 | **take** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect · passive |  | no interruption |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme place=Destination |

<!-- .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:** «Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore», Project Gutenberg book 22373 (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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