---
title: As for the donkey’s tail, it was impossible to get rid of that; it w… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: As for the donkey’s tail, it was impossible to get rid of that; it was as firmly fixed on her forehead as was the golden star on Lizina’s. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 36, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 36, sentence 74

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As for the donkey’s tail, it was impossible to get rid of that; it was as firmly fixed on her forehead as was the golden star on Lizina’s.

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**What happens:** be, get, fix · **To what, where:** tail, forehead

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This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 36. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg2435:36:74
# text = As for the donkey’s tail, it was impossible to get rid of that; it was as firmly fixed on her forehead as was the golden star on Lizina’s.
1	As	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	6	case	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	donkey	donkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	’s	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	expl	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	csubj	_	_
13	rid	rid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
19	as	as	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	firmly	firmly	ADV	RB	_	21	obl	_	_
21	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	parataxis	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	forehead	forehead	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
25	as	as	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	star	star	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
30	on	on	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	Lizina	Lizina	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	29	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	’s	's	PART	POS	_	31	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | as the donkey's tail; impossible *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | rid *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **fix** | past · passive |  | tail |  | Peppina's forehead |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: subject=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | as the golden star | tree rules |

<!-- .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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