---
title: ‘You simpleton,’ said the eldest, ‘you are always afraid; have you f… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: ‘You simpleton,’ said the eldest, ‘you are always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings’ sons have already watched in vain? Who acts: You, simpleton, sons. A sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# Grimms' Fairy Tales, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, sentence 21

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‘You simpleton,’ said the eldest, ‘you are always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings’ sons have already watched in vain?

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**Who acts:** You, simpleton, sons · **What happens:** simpleton, say, be, forget, watch · **To what, where:** vain · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (You, simpleton, sons), 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:pg2591:10:21
# text = ‘You simpleton,’ said the eldest, ‘you are always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings’ sons have already watched in vain?
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	simpleton	simpleton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	14	advmod	_	_
14	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	forgotten	forget	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	amod	_	_
19	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	20	advmod	_	_
20	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	’	's	PART	POS	_	21	case	_	_
23	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nsubj	_	_
24	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	already	already	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	watched	watch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	ccomp	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	vain	vain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **simpleton** |  | You |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | simpleton |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | you |  |  |  |  | afraid, always *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **forget** | present · perfect | you |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **watch** | present · perfect | forgotten many kings's sons |  |  | vain |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in vain=Location |

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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:** «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, Project Gutenberg book 2591 (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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