---
title: But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam, when… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam, when he sprang away from the chimney in a great hurry, exclaiming, "Oh, certainly, by all means, you must be my queen; and we will let the soup question rest till our golden wedding, fifty years hence; so that the poor in my kingdom, who
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, How It Was Prepared, sentence 16

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam, when he sprang away from the chimney in a great hurry, exclaiming, "Oh, certainly, by all means, you must be my queen; and we will let the soup question rest till our golden wedding, fifty years hence; so that the poor in my kingdom, who are then to have plenty of food, will have something to look forward to for a long time, with great joy."

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** tail, king, you, we, kingdom, our · **What happens:** have, touch, spring away, exclaim, mean, be · **To what, where:** hot steam, chimney, queen, soup question rest, something · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, How It Was Prepared. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (tail, king, you, we), 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:pg27200:182:16
# text = But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam, when he sprang away from the chimney in a great hurry, exclaiming, "Oh, certainly, by all means, you must be my queen; and we will let the soup question rest till our golden wedding, fifty years hence; so that the poor in my kingdom, who are then to have plenty of food, will have something to look forward to for a long time, with great joy."
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	touched	touch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	steam	steam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	sprang	spring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
19	away	away	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
20	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	chimney	chimney	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	hurry	hurry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
28	exclaiming	exclaim	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	18	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
30	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	Oh	oh	INTJ	UH	_	37	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
33	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
35	by	by	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	31	obl	_	_
37	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	28	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
39	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	43	nsubj	_	_
40	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
41	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	43	cop	_	_
42	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	48	punct	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
46	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
47	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
48	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	parataxis	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
50	soup	soup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	compound	_	_
51	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	compound	_	_
52	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obj	_	_
53	till	till	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
54	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	56	nmod:poss	_	_
55	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	56	amod	_	_
56	wedding	wedding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
58	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	59	nummod	_	_
59	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	48	obl	_	_
60	hence	hence	ADV	RB	_	59	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
62	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	65	mark	_	_
63	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	65	mark	_	_
64	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	65	det	_	_
65	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	parataxis	_	_
66	in	in	ADP	IN	_	68	case	_	_
67	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	68	nmod:poss	_	_
68	kingdom	kingdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
69	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	74	punct	_	_
70	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	74	nsubj	_	_
71	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	74	cop	_	_
72	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	74	advmod	_	_
73	to	to	PART	TO	_	74	mark	_	_
74	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	68	acl:relcl	_	_
75	plenty	plenty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	74	obj	_	_
76	of	of	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
77	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	75	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	80	punct	_	_
79	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	80	aux	_	_
80	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	conj	_	_
81	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	80	obj	_	_
82	to	to	PART	TO	_	83	mark	_	_
83	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	81	acl	_	_
84	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	83	advmod	_	_
85	to	to	PART	TO	_	84	fixed	_	_
86	for	for	ADP	IN	_	89	case	_	_
87	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	89	det	_	_
88	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	89	amod	_	_
89	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	83	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
90	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	93	punct	_	_
91	with	with	ADP	IN	_	93	case	_	_
92	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	93	amod	_	_
93	joy	joy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	80	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
94	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	48	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	48	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the mouse king's tail |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **touch** | past | the mouse king's tail *not said here* | the hot steam |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme steam=Co-Theme |
| 3 | **spring away** | past | king |  |  | the chimney |  | in a great hurry; away *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from chimney=Trajectory |
| 4 | **exclaim** *speech: express* | gerund | king *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **mean** *in a quote* | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | must | you | my queen |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **let** *in a quote* | future | we | the soup question rest |  |  | till our golden wedding; year |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rest=Theme |
| 8 | **is** *in a quote* | present | my kingdom |  |  |  | then | have *property* | tree rules |
| 9 | **have** *in a quote* | future | we *not said here* | something |  |  |  | with great joy | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Patient |
| 10 | **look** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | something *not said here* |  |  | time | forward *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 11 | **wed** *in a quote* |  | our |  |  |  |  |  | nom wedding «event transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:** «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Project Gutenberg book 27200 (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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