---
title: Kala Nag, which means Black Snake, had served the Indian Government… — The Jungle Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Kala Nag, which means Black Snake, had served the Indian Government in every way that an elephant could serve it for forty-seven years, and as he was fully twenty years old when he was caught, that makes him nearly seventy--a ripe age for an elephant. Who acts: Kala, elephant, that. A sentence of «T
---

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# The Jungle Book, The Jungle Book, part 15, sentence 122

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Kala Nag, which means Black Snake, had served the Indian Government in every way that an elephant could serve it for forty-seven years, and as he was fully twenty years old when he was caught, that makes him nearly seventy--a ripe age for an elephant.

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**Who acts:** Kala, elephant, that · **What happens:** mean, serve, be, catch, make · **To what, where:** Black Snake, Indian Government, way, Government, Kala, seventy

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This is a sentence of «The Jungle Book» by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Kala, elephant, that), 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:pg236:15:122
# text = Kala Nag, which means Black Snake, had served the Indian Government in every way that an elephant could serve it for forty-seven years, and as he was fully twenty years old when he was caught, that makes him nearly seventy--a ripe age for an elephant.
1	Kala	Kala	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	Nag	Nag	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	Black	Black	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	Snake	Snake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	served	serve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	Government	Government	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
16	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
18	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	serve	serve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	acl	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
24	forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	27	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	24	conj	_	_
27	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
29	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
30	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
33	fully	fully	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	35	nummod	_	_
35	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obl:unmarked	_	_
36	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	advcl	_	_
37	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	40	mark	_	_
38	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj:pass	_	_
39	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux:pass	_	_
40	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	36	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
42	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	43	nsubj	_	_
43	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	36	conj	_	_
44	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	obj	_	_
45	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
46	seventy	seventy	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	43	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
49	ripe	ripe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
50	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
51	for	for	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Kala | Black Snake |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snake=Topic |
| 2 | **serve** | past · perfect | Kala *not said here* | the Indian Government |  | every way | a ripe age for a elephant |  | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent government=Value in way=Location |
| 3 | **serve** | could | a elephant | Government |  |  | year |  | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Attribute |
| 4 | **is** | past | Kala |  |  |  | year | old *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **catch** | past · passive |  | Kala |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **make** | present | that | seventy | Kala |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset he=Beneficiary seventy=Product |

<!-- .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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