---
title: If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous th… — The Jungle Book · tree and pragmatics
description: If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, he would get the return stroke in his eye or his lip. Who acts: gait, Karait. A sentence of «The Jungle
---

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# The Jungle Book, The Jungle Book, part 14, sentence 7

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If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, he would get the return stroke in his eye or his lip.

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**Who acts:** gait, Karait · **What happens:** know, do, fight, be, turn, bite · **To what, where:** Rikki tikki, dangerous thing, Nag, gait, return stroke, eye

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This is a sentence of «The Jungle Book» by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book, part 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (gait, Karait), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg236:14:7
# text = If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, he would get the return stroke in his eye or his lip.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	Rikki	Rikki	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	tikki	tikki	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	conj	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
13	much	much	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	15	advmod	_	_
15	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
17	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
18	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
19	Nag	Nag	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
21	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
22	Karait	Karait	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
23	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
24	so	so	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
29	turn	turn	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	25	parataxis	_	_
30	so	so	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
31	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
33	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
34	unless	unless	SCONJ	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	Rikki	Rikki	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	_
36	bit	bite	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	parataxis	_	_
37	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	obj	_	_
38	close	close	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	xcomp	_	_
39	to	to	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
46	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
47	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
48	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
50	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	compound	_	_
51	stroke	stroke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obj	_	_
52	in	in	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
53	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	54	nmod:poss	_	_
54	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obl	_	_
55	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	57	cc	_	_
56	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	57	nmod:poss	_	_
57	lip	lip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | past · perfect · passive |  | Rikki tikki |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **do** | past · progressive | gait | a dangerous thing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |
| 3 | **fight** | gerund | gait *not said here* | Nag |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nag=Co-Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | Karait |  |  |  |  | small *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **turn** | can |  |  |  |  |  | quickly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **bite** | past |  | gait |  |  |  | unless Rikki; close *property* | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 7 | **get** | would | gait | the return stroke |  | gait's eye or gait's lip |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stroke=Stimulus |

<!-- .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:** «The Jungle Book» by Rudyard Kipling, Project Gutenberg book 236 (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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