--- title: The dragon was clambering down the face of the cliff, and next momen… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: The dragon was clambering down the face of the cliff, and next moment he was crawling and writhing and sprawling and wriggling across the beach after Nigel, making great holes in the sand with his heavy feet--and the very end of his tail, where there were no legs, made, as it dragged, a mark in the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/11/26/) [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/) / [The Book of Dragons](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/) / [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/11/) / 26 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 11, sentence 26 The dragon was clambering down the face of the cliff, and next moment he was crawling and writhing and sprawling and wriggling across the beach after Nigel, making great holes in the sand with his heavy feet--and the very end of his tail, where there were no legs, made, as it dragged, a mark in the sand such as you make when you launch a boat; and he breathed fire till the wet sand hissed again, and the water of the little rock pools got quite frightened, and all went off in steam. **Who acts:** dragon, next moment, legs, end, you, Nigel · **What happens:** clamber, crawl, sprawl, wriggle, make, be · **To what, where:** face, beach, great holes, sand, legs, mark This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (dragon, next moment, legs, end), 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:pg23661:11:26 # text = The dragon was clambering down the face of the cliff, and next moment he was crawling and writhing and sprawling and wriggling across the beach after Nigel, making great holes in the sand with his heavy feet--and the very end of his tail, where there were no legs, made, as it dragged, a mark in the sand such as you make when you launch a boat; and he breathed fire till the wet sand hissed again, and the water of the little rock pools got quite frightened, and all went off in steam. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 dragon dragon NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 clambering clamber VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 5 down down ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 face face NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 cliff cliff NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 13 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 moment moment NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nsubj _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 16 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 17 crawling crawl VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 conj _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 writhing writhing NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 conj _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 21 sprawling sprawl VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 conj _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 23 wriggling wriggle VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 conj _ _ 24 across across ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 beach beach NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ _ 27 after after ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 Nigel Nigel PROPN NNP Number=Sing 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 30 making make VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 conj _ _ 31 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 holes hole NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 obj _ _ 33 in in ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 sand sand NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ _ 36 with with ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 37 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 39 nmod:poss _ _ 38 heavy heavy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 amod _ _ 39 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 -- -- PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 43 very very ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 44 end end NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 parataxis _ _ 45 of of ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 47 nmod:poss _ _ 47 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 49 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 51 advmod _ _ 50 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 51 expl _ _ 51 were be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 parataxis _ _ 52 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 53 det _ _ 53 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 51 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 54 , , PUNCT , _ 55 punct _ _ 55 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 53 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 59 punct _ _ 57 as as SCONJ IN _ 59 mark _ _ 58 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 59 nsubj _ _ 59 dragged drag VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 55 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 62 punct _ _ 61 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 62 mark mark NOUN NN Number=Sing 59 obj _ _ 63 in in ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 65 sand sand NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 nmod _ _ 66 such such ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP 69 case _ _ 67 as as ADP IN _ 66 fixed _ _ 68 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 69 make make VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 62 acl:relcl _ _ 70 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 72 advmod _ _ 71 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 72 nsubj _ _ 72 launch launch VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 69 advcl _ _ 73 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 74 det _ _ 74 boat boat NOUN NN Number=Sing 72 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 75 ; ; PUNCT : _ 78 punct _ _ 76 and and CCONJ CC _ 78 cc _ _ 77 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 78 nsubj _ _ 78 breathed breathe VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 79 fire fire NOUN NN Number=Sing 78 obj _ _ 80 till till ADP IN _ 83 case _ _ 81 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 83 det _ _ 82 wet wet ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 83 amod _ _ 83 sand sand NOUN NN Number=Sing 78 obl _ _ 84 hissed hiss VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 83 acl _ _ 85 again again ADV RB _ 84 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 86 , , PUNCT , _ 97 punct _ _ 87 and and CCONJ CC _ 97 cc _ _ 88 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 89 det _ _ 89 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 97 nsubj:pass _ _ 90 of of ADP IN _ 94 case _ _ 91 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 94 det _ _ 92 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 94 amod _ _ 93 rock rock NOUN NN Number=Sing 94 compound _ _ 94 pools pool NOUN NNS Number=Plur 89 nmod _ _ 95 got get AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 97 aux:pass _ _ 96 quite quite ADV RB _ 97 advmod _ _ 97 frightened frighten VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 98 , , PUNCT , _ 101 punct _ _ 99 and and CCONJ CC _ 101 cc _ _ 100 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 101 advmod _ _ 101 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 97 conj _ _ 102 off off ADP RP _ 101 compound:prt _ _ 103 in in ADP IN _ 104 case _ _ 104 steam steam NOUN NN Number=Sing 101 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 105 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **clamber** | past · progressive | the dragon | | | the face of the cliff | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme down face=Trajectory | | 2 | **crawl** | past · progressive | next moment | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **sprawl** | gerund | next moment *not said here* | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **wriggle** | gerund | next moment *not said here* | | | the beach | after Nigel | | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **make** | gerund | next moment *not said here* | great holes | | the sand | | with Nigel's heavy feet | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset hole=Product | | 6 | **be** | past | no legs | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **make** | participle | | no legs *not said here* | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | | 8 | **drag** | past | end | a mark | | the sand | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mark=Theme | | 9 | **make** | present | you | a mark *not said here* | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mark=Product | | 10 | **launch** | present | you | a boat | | | | | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boat=Theme | | 11 | **breathe** | past | Nigel | fire | | | till the wet sand | | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Theme | | 12 | **hiss** | participle | | the wet sand *not said here* | | | again | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 13 | **frighten** | past · passive | | the water of the little rock pools | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | | 14 | **go off** | past | | | | steam | | | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in steam=Location | 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:** «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Project Gutenberg book 23661 (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 25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/11/25/) - next →: [sentence 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/11/27/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/11/)