---
title: The trees were so thick and the wood so dark, that he paused for a m… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The trees were so thick and the wood so dark, that he paused for a moment and listened, straining his ears to catch some sound to break a silence which almost frightened him. Who acts: trees, tree. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 10, with its depen
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 10, sentence 26

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trees were so thick and the wood so dark, that he paused for a moment and listened, straining his ears to catch some sound to break a silence which almost frightened him.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** trees, tree · **What happens:** be, pause, listen, strain, catch, break · **To what, where:** ears, sound, silence

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (trees, tree), 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:pg2435:10:26
# text = The trees were so thick and the wood so dark, that he paused for a moment and listened, straining his ears to catch some sound to break a silence which almost frightened him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	paused	pause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	listened	listen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	straining	strain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	advcl	_	_
22	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obj	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	advcl	_	_
26	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	27	det	_	_
27	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	advcl	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
32	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	34	obj	_	_
33	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	acl:relcl	_	_
35	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the trees |  |  |  |  | thick *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the trees *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **pause** | past | tree |  |  |  | moment |  | vn linger-53.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **listen** | past | tree *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **strain** | gerund | tree *not said here* | tree's ears |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent ear=Source |
| 6 | **catch** | to-infinitive | tree *not said here* | some sound |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Theme |
| 7 | **break** | to-infinitive | tree *not said here* | a silence |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer silence=Patient |
| 8 | **frighten** | past |  | a silence |  |  |  | almost *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Stimulus which=Experiencer he=Result |

<!-- .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 Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 2435 (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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