---
title: W'en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open… — Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings · tree and pragmatics
description: W'en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open up de confab, he did, en he ax Brer Fox whar he git dat nice string er fish, en Brer Fox, he up'n 'spon' dat he kotch um, en Brer Rabbit, he say whar'bouts, en Brer Fox, he say down at de babtizin' creek, en Brer Rabbit he ax how, 
---

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# Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, XXV. How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail, sentence 21

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
W'en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open up de confab, he did, en he ax Brer Fox whar he git dat nice string er fish, en Brer Fox, he up'n 'spon' dat he kotch um, en Brer Rabbit, he say whar'bouts, en Brer Fox, he say down at de babtizin' creek, en Brer Rabbit he ax how, kaze in dem days dey wuz monstus fon' er minners, en Brer Fox, he sot down on a log, he did, en he up'n tell Brer Rabbit dat all he gotter do fer ter git er big mess er minners is ter go ter de creek atter sundown, en drap his tail in de water en set dar twel day-light, en den draw up a whole armful er fishes, en dem w'at he don't want, he kin fling back.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Remus, Fox whar, Brer Rabbit, dey, big er minners, ter · **What happens:** open up, do, ax, string, dat, um · **To what, where:** fish, whar'bouts, kaze, dem days, log, en · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, XXV. How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Remus, Fox whar, Brer Rabbit, dey), 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:pg2306:28:21
# text = W'en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open up de confab, he did, en he ax Brer Fox whar he git dat nice string er fish, en Brer Fox, he up'n 'spon' dat he kotch um, en Brer Rabbit, he say whar'bouts, en Brer Fox, he say down at de babtizin' creek, en Brer Rabbit he ax how, kaze in dem days dey wuz monstus fon' er minners, en Brer Fox, he sot down on a log, he did, en he up'n tell Brer Rabbit dat all he gotter do fer ter git er big mess er minners is ter go ter de creek atter sundown, en drap his tail in de water en set dar twel day-light, en den draw up a whole armful er fishes, en dem w'at he don't want, he kin fling back.
1	W'en	W'en	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
2	dey	dey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	pass	pass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	de	de	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	5	compound	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	er	er	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
8	wid	wid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	wunner	wunner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	nudder	nudder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	open	open	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
17	up	up	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	_
18	de	de	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	confab	confab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	ax	ax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
27	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	appos	_	_
28	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	compound	_	_
29	whar	whar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
30	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
31	git	git	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
32	dat	dat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
33	nice	nice	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	parataxis	_	_
35	er	e	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	36	advmod	_	_
36	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
38	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
39	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
40	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
42	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
43	up'n	up'n	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	_
44	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	spon	spon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	45	punct	_	_
47	dat	dat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	_
48	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	nsubj	_	_
49	kotch	kotch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	compound	_	_
50	um	um	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
52	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	conj	_	_
53	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	52	appos	_	_
54	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	53	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
56	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	57	nsubj	_	_
57	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	parataxis	_	_
58	whar'bouts	whar'bout	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
60	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	conj	_	_
61	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	62	compound	_	_
62	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
64	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	65	nsubj	_	_
65	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	57	parataxis	_	_
66	down	down	ADP	RP	_	65	compound:prt	_	_
67	at	at	ADP	IN	_	69	case	_	_
68	de	de	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	69	compound	_	_
69	babtizin	babtizin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	75	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	69	punct	_	_
71	creek	creek	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	75	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	73	punct	_	_
73	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	71	conj	_	_
74	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	75	compound	_	_
75	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	77	nsubj	_	_
76	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	77	nsubj	_	_
77	ax	ax	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	65	ccomp	_	_
78	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	77	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	80	punct	_	_
80	kaze	kaze	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	77	obl	_	_
81	in	in	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
82	dem	dem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	83	compound	_	_
83	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	77	obl	_	_
84	dey	dey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	nsubj	_	_
85	wuz	wuz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	compound	_	_
86	monstus	monstus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	compound	_	_
87	fon	fon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	83	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
88	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	87	punct	_	_
89	er	er	ADP	IN	_	90	case	_	_
90	minners	minner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	87	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	94	punct	_	_
92	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	94	compound	_	_
93	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	94	compound	_	_
94	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	97	punct	_	_
96	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	97	nsubj	_	_
97	sot	sot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	77	obl	_	_
98	down	down	ADV	RB	_	97	advmod	_	_
99	on	on	ADP	IN	_	101	case	_	_
100	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	101	det	_	_
101	log	log	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	97	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
102	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	104	punct	_	_
103	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	104	nsubj	_	_
104	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	109	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
105	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	106	punct	_	_
106	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	104	obj	_	_
107	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	109	nsubj	_	_
108	up'n	up'n	CCONJ	CC	_	109	cc	_	_
109	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	65	conj	_	_
110	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	111	compound	_	_
111	Rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	109	obj	_	_
112	dat	dat	ADP	IN	_	115	case	_	_
113	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	115	det	_	_
114	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	115	nsubj	_	_
115	gotter	gotter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	116	obl	_	_
116	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	109	parataxis	_	_
117	fer	f	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	119	amod	_	_
118	ter	ter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	119	compound	_	_
119	git	git	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	116	obj	_	_
120	er	er	ADV	RB	_	121	advmod	_	_
121	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	124	amod	_	_
122	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	123	compound	_	_
123	er	er	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	124	compound	_	_
124	minners	minner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	127	nsubj	_	_
125	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	127	cop	_	_
126	ter	ter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	127	nsubj	_	_
127	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	119	acl:relcl	_	_
128	ter	ter	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	135	nsubj	_	_
129	de	de	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	128	flat:foreign	_	_
130	creek	creek	X	FW	_	132	compound	_	_
131	atter	atter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	132	compound	_	_
132	sundown	sundown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	135	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
133	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	134	punct	_	_
134	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	132	conj	_	_
135	drap	drap	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	127	ccomp	_	_
136	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	137	nmod:poss	_	_
137	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	135	obj	_	_
138	in	in	ADP	IN	_	141	case	_	_
139	de	de	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	141	amod	_	_
140	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	141	compound	_	_
141	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	142	obl	_	_
142	set	set	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	135	parataxis	_	_
143	dar	dar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	147	amod	_	_
144	twel	twel	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	147	amod	_	_
145	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	147	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
146	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	145	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
147	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	142	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
148	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	150	punct	_	_
149	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	150	compound	_	_
150	den	den	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	147	conj	_	_
151	draw	draw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	142	conj	_	_
152	up	up	ADP	RP	_	151	compound:prt	_	_
153	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	157	det	_	_
154	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	157	amod	_	_
155	armful	armful	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	157	compound	_	_
156	er	er	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	157	compound	_	_
157	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	151	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
158	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	161	punct	_	_
159	en	en	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	160	compound	_	_
160	dem	dem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	161	compound	_	_
161	w'at	w'at	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	157	appos	_	_
162	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	165	nsubj	_	_
163	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	165	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
164	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	165	advmod	_	_
165	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	161	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
166	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	168	punct	_	_
167	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	168	nsubj	_	_
168	kin	kin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	127	parataxis	_	_
169	fling	fl	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	168	xcomp	_	_
170	back	back	ADV	RB	_	169	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
171	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open up** | present | Remus |  |  |  |  | de confab | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | past | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ax** |  | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **string** |  | Fox whar | fish |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **dat** |  | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **um** |  | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Remus | whar'bouts and en and Brer Fox |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent whar'bout=Topic |
| 8 | **say down** *speech: assert* | present | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 9 | **ax** | infinitive | Brer Rabbit | kaze |  |  | day |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **fon** |  | dey | dem days *not said here* |  |  |  | er minners | tree rules |
| 11 | **sot down** |  | Remus |  |  | a log |  | down *property* | tree rules |
| 12 | **do** | past | Remus | en |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent en=Eventuality |
| 13 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive | Remus |  | Brer Rabbit |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent rabbit=Recipient |
| 14 | **do** | present |  | fer ter git |  |  |  | dat all gotter | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent git=Eventuality |
| 15 | **is** | present | big er minners | fer ter git *not said here* |  |  |  | go *property* | tree rules |
| 16 | **drap** | infinitive | ter | Remus's tail |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 17 | **set** | past |  | dar twel day light and en den |  | de water en |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent light=Theme in en=Destination |
| 18 | **draw up** | infinitive |  | a whole armful er fishes |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Theme |
| 19 | **not** **want** | present · do-support | Remus | dem w'at *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot w'at=Theme |
| 20 | **kin** | past | Remus |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 21 | **fl back** | gerund | Remus *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:** «Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings» by Joel Chandler Harris, Project Gutenberg book 2306 (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 -->

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