---
title: Niels was startled and rather scared at first, but he comforted hims… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Niels was startled and rather scared at first, but he comforted himself with the thought that the giants were a good way off, and that if they came nearer he could easily hide among the bushes. Who acts: Rasmus, giants. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, p
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 29, sentence 144

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Niels was startled and rather scared at first, but he comforted himself with the thought that the giants were a good way off, and that if they came nearer he could easily hide among the bushes.

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**Who acts:** Rasmus, giants · **What happens:** startle, comfort, be, come, hide · **To what, where:** Niels, Rasmus, good way, bushes

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This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 29. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Rasmus, giants), 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:pg2435:29:144
# text = Niels was startled and rather scared at first, but he comforted himself with the thought that the giants were a good way off, and that if they came nearer he could easily hide among the bushes.
1	Niels	Niels	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	startled	startle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	scared	scared	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	comforted	comfort	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obj	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	thought	thought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	giants	giant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	nsubj	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod:unmarked	_	_
24	off	off	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
28	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
29	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	advcl	_	_
31	nearer	near	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	30	xcomp	_	_
32	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
33	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
35	hide	hide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
36	among	among	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	bushes	bush	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **startle** | past · passive |  | Niels |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **comfort** | past | Rasmus | Rasmus |  |  |  | with the thought | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus himself=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is a** | past | the giants | a good way |  |  |  | off *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **come** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Giants *= giant* |  |  |  |  | near *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **hide** | could | Rasmus |  |  | the bushes |  | easily *property* | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent among bush=Location |

<!-- .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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