--- title: “My master bids me say,” said the messenger, bowing low, “that if yo… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: “My master bids me say,” said the messenger, bowing low, “that if you cannot tell him which of these three canes grows nearest the root, which in the middle, and which at the top, he will declare war against you. Who acts: master, messenger, you. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/7/68/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Crimson Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/) / [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/7/) / 68 # The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7, sentence 68 “My master bids me say,” said the messenger, bowing low, “that if you cannot tell him which of these three canes grows nearest the root, which in the middle, and which at the top, he will declare war against you. **Who acts:** master, messenger, you · **What happens:** bid, say, bow, not tell, grow, declare · **To what, where:** messenger, war, top · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (master, messenger, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **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:pg2435:7:68 # text = “My master bids me say,” said the messenger, bowing low, “that if you cannot tell him which of these three canes grows nearest the root, which in the middle, and which at the top, he will declare war against you. 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 My my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 3 nmod:poss _ _ 3 master master NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 bids bid VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 9 ccomp _ _ 5 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 obj _ _ 6 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ” " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ 9 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 messenger messenger NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 13 bowing bow VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 9 advcl _ _ 14 low low ADV RB Degree=Pos 13 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 16 “ " PUNCT `` _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 17 that that SCONJ IN _ 22 mark _ _ 18 if if SCONJ IN _ 22 mark _ _ 19 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 20 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 22 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 21 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 22 advmod _ _ 22 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 conj _ _ 23 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 iobj _ _ 24 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 29 nsubj _ _ 25 of of ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 26 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 28 det _ _ 27 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 28 nummod _ _ 28 canes cane NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ _ 29 grows grow VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 22 ccomp _ _ 30 nearest nearest ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 root root NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 34 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 37 nsubj _ _ 35 in in ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 middle middle NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 40 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 47 obj _ _ 41 at at ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 top top NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 45 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 nsubj _ _ 46 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 47 declare declare VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 conj _ _ 48 war war NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obj _ _ 49 against against ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 50 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **bid** *in a quote* | present | My master | the messenger *= messenger* | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive | My master *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the messenger | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 4 | **bow** | gerund | the messenger *not said here* | | | | | low *property* | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | can | you | | messenger | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 6 | **grow** *in a quote* | present | | | | | | of this three canes; nearest the root and the middle | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **declare** *speech: other* *in a quote* | future | messenger | war | | the top | | against you | vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent which=Theme war=Attribute | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 67](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/7/67/) - next →: [sentence 69](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/7/69/) - ↑ back to [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/7/)