--- title: And as the children stood there looking at the most wonderful sight… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: And as the children stood there looking at the most wonderful sight their eyes had ever seen, there was a soft padding of feet and a hurry-scurry behind them, and from the outside darkness beyond the flame-stalks came a crowd of little brown creatures running, jumping, scrambling, tumbling head over --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/60/) [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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/) / 60 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 8, sentence 60 And as the children stood there looking at the most wonderful sight their eyes had ever seen, there was a soft padding of feet and a hurry-scurry behind them, and from the outside darkness beyond the flame-stalks came a crowd of little brown creatures running, jumping, scrambling, tumbling head over heels and on all fours, and some even walking on their heads. **Who acts:** children, wonderful sight, little brown creatures, some · **What happens:** stand, look, see, be, run, jump · **To what, where:** eyes, outside darkness, head, heels, heads This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (children, wonderful sight, little brown creatures, some), 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:pg23661:8:60 # text = And as the children stood there looking at the most wonderful sight their eyes had ever seen, there was a soft padding of feet and a hurry-scurry behind them, and from the outside darkness beyond the flame-stalks came a crowd of little brown creatures running, jumping, scrambling, tumbling head over heels and on all fours, and some even walking on their heads. 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 2 as as SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 children child NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 5 stood stand VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 advcl _ _ 6 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ _ 7 looking look VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 5 advcl _ _ 8 at at ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 10 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 11 advmod _ _ 11 wonderful wonderful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 amod _ _ 12 sight sight NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ 13 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 14 nmod:poss _ _ 14 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 17 nsubj:pass _ _ 15 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 16 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 17 advmod _ _ 17 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 12 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 5 punct _ _ 19 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 20 expl _ _ 20 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 cop _ _ 21 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 22 soft soft ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 amod _ _ 23 padding padding NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 nsubj _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 nmod _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 27 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 28 hurry hurry NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 29 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 28 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 30 scurry scurry NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 conj _ _ 31 behind behind ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 32 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 35 from from ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 37 outside outside ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 38 darkness darkness NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ _ 39 beyond beyond ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 41 flame flame NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 42 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 stalks stalk NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nmod _ _ 44 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 45 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 crowd crowd NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 47 of of ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 48 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 49 brown brown ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 creatures creature NOUN NNS Number=Plur 46 nmod _ _ 51 running run VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 50 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 53 jumping jump VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 51 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 54 , , PUNCT , _ 55 punct _ _ 55 scrambling scramble VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 51 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 57 tumbling tumble VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 51 conj _ _ 58 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 obj _ _ 59 over over ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 60 heels heel NOUN NNS Number=Plur 57 obl _ _ 61 and and CCONJ CC _ 64 cc _ _ 62 on on ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 63 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 64 det _ _ 64 fours four NOUN NNS Number=Plur 60 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 65 , , PUNCT , _ 69 punct _ _ 66 and and CCONJ CC _ 69 cc _ _ 67 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 69 nsubj _ _ 68 even even ADV RB _ 69 advmod _ _ 69 walking walk VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 44 advcl _ _ 70 on on ADP IN _ 72 case _ _ 71 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 72 nmod:poss _ _ 72 heads head NOUN NNS Number=Plur 69 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 73 . . PUNCT . _ 44 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **stand** | past | the children | | | there | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **look** | gerund | the children *not said here* | | | | | at the wonderful sight | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at sight=Theme | | 3 | **see** | past · perfect · passive | the wonderful sight *not said here* | children's eyes | | | ever | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus | | 4 | **is** | past | | | | the outside darkness beyond the flame stalks | | come *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **run** | gerund | little brown creatures *not said here* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **jump** | gerund | little brown creatures *not said here* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **scramble** | gerund | little brown creatures *not said here* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **tumble** | gerund | little brown creatures *not said here* | head | | heels and all fours | | | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location head=Theme | | 9 | **walk** | gerund | some | | | children's heads | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on head=Trajectory | 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 59](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/59/) - next →: [sentence 61](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/61/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/)