---
title: In former times he had been very fond of his little son; but since h… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: In former times he had been very fond of his little son; but since he had betrayed his wife he seemed to have changed all in a moment, for he would not give him as much as a bite, and the poor little fellow would have starved had he not found some nuts and berries to eat, and he waited on, always ho
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 32, sentence 43

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In former times he had been very fond of his little son; but since he had betrayed his wife he seemed to have changed all in a moment, for he would not give him as much as a bite, and the poor little fellow would have starved had he not found some nuts and berries to eat, and he waited on, always hoping that his mother would come back.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Tanuki, poor little fellow, nuts, mother · **What happens:** be, betray, seem, change, not give, starve · **To what, where:** wife, much, fox, poor little fellow, nuts

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 32. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Tanuki, poor little fellow, nuts, mother), 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:pg2435:32:43
# text = In former times he had been very fond of his little son; but since he had betrayed his wife he seemed to have changed all in a moment, for he would not give him as much as a bite, and the poor little fellow would have starved had he not found some nuts and berries to eat, and he waited on, always hoping that his mother would come back.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
7	very	very	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	fond	fond	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
11	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
15	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	betrayed	betray	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
24	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	aux	_	_
25	changed	change	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	xcomp	_	_
26	all	all	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
31	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	35	mark	_	_
32	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
33	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	35	advmod	_	_
35	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	conj	_	_
36	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	iobj	_	_
37	as	as	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	obj	_	_
39	as	as	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	bite	bite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
44	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
45	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
46	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
47	fellow	fellow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	nsubj	_	_
48	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	50	aux	_	_
49	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	aux	_	_
50	starved	starve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	47	acl	_	_
51	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
52	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	nsubj	_	_
53	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	54	advmod	_	_
54	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	ccomp	_	_
55	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	56	det	_	_
56	nuts	nut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	54	obj	_	_
57	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc	_	_
58	berries	berry	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	56	conj	_	_
59	to	to	PART	TO	_	60	mark	_	_
60	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	64	punct	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	64	cc	_	_
63	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	64	nsubj	_	_
64	waited	wait	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
65	on	on	ADP	RP	_	64	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
67	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	68	advmod	_	_
68	hoping	hope	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	64	advcl	_	_
69	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	73	mark	_	_
70	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	71	nmod:poss	_	_
71	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	nsubj	_	_
72	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	73	aux	_	_
73	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	68	advcl	_	_
74	back	back	ADV	RB	_	73	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
75	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past · perfect | Tanuki |  |  |  | time | of Tanuki's little son; fond *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **betray** | past · perfect | Tanuki | Tanuki's wife |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **seem** | past | Tanuki |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 4 | **change** | to-infinitive · perfect | Tanuki *not said here* |  |  |  | moment |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **not** **give** | would | Tanuki | much | fox |  |  | as a bite | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient much=Theme |
| 6 | **starve** | would · perfect |  | the poor little fellow *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **have** | past | the poor little fellow |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **not** **find** | past | Tanuki | some nuts and berries |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent nut=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 9 | **eat** | to-infinitive | some nuts and berries *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **wait on** | past | Tanuki |  |  |  |  |  | vn caring-75.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 11 | **hope** | gerund | Tanuki *not said here* |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 12 | **come back** | would | Tanuki's mother |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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