---
title: This state of affairs lasted some time, till one day a messenger arr… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: This state of affairs lasted some time, till one day a messenger arrived from the Sultan bearing a letter for the king, and also three canes. Who acts: state, messenger. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7, sentence 67

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This state of affairs lasted some time, till one day a messenger arrived from the Sultan bearing a letter for the king, and also three canes.

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**Who acts:** state, messenger · **What happens:** last, arrive, bear · **To what, where:** three canes, Sultan, letter

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This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (state, messenger), 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:pg2435:7:67
# text = This state of affairs lasted some time, till one day a messenger arrived from the Sultan bearing a letter for the king, and also three canes.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	affairs	affair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	lasted	last	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
10	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	arrived	arrive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
15	from	from	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Sultan	Sultan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	bearing	bear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	advcl	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
26	also	also	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	28	nummod	_	_
28	canes	cane	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **last** | past | this state of affairs | three canes |  |  | time |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **arrive** | past | a messenger |  |  | the Sultan | day |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from sultan=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **bear** | gerund | a messenger *not said here* | a letter |  |  |  | for the king | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer letter=Stimulus for king=Attribute |

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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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