--- title: A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy themselves with Alp-pressi… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy themselves with Alp-pressing, were also at the feast; and from these the young Will-o'-the-Wisps learned the art of slipping through every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them. Who acts: spirits, Alp, couple, Wisps. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of H --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/211/203/) [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/) / [Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/) / [The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Sa…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/211/) / 203 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Says the Moor Woman, sentence 203 A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy themselves with Alp-pressing, were also at the feast; and from these the young Will-o'-the-Wisps learned the art of slipping through every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them. **Who acts:** spirits, Alp, couple, Wisps, art, door · **What happens:** occupy, press, be, learn, slip, stand · **To what, where:** festivities, feast, art, key hole This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Says the Moor Woman. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (spirits, Alp, couple, Wisps), 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:pg27200:211:203 # text = A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy themselves with Alp-pressing, were also at the feast; and from these the young Will-o'-the-Wisps learned the art of slipping through every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them. 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 couple couple NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 nsubj _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 Alpas Alpas PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 7 spirits spirit NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 conj _ _ 8 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 9 nsubj _ _ 9 occupy occupy VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 7 acl:relcl _ _ 10 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 9 obj _ _ 11 with with SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 12 Alp Alp PROPN NNP Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 14 pressing press VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 9 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 16 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 cop _ _ 17 also also ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 18 at at ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 feast feast NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT : _ 27 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 23 from from ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 24 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 26 det _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 young young NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 27 Will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 20 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 35 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 29 o of ADP IN Abbr=Yes 35 mark _ SpaceAfter=No 30 ' ' PUNCT '' _ 35 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 31 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ SpaceAfter=No 33 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 32 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 34 Wisps wisp NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 nsubj _ _ 35 learned learn VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 parataxis _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 art art NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obj _ _ 38 of of SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 39 slipping slip VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 37 acl _ _ 40 through through ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 41 every every DET DT PronType=Tot 44 det _ _ 42 key key NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 43 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 42 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 44 hole hole NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 46 as as SCONJ IN _ 50 mark _ _ 47 if if SCONJ IN _ 50 mark _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 door door NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 nsubj _ _ 50 stood stand VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 conj _ _ 51 open open ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 xcomp _ _ 52 before before ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 53 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 50 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 20 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **occupy** | present | spirits | festivities *= festivity* | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus themselves=Experiencer | | 2 | **press** | gerund | Alp | | | | | | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **is** | past | a couple of old Alpas and spirits | | | the feast | | | tree rules | | 4 | **learn** | past | the Wisps | the art | | | | | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent art=Topic | | 5 | **slip** | gerund | the art *not said here* | | | every key hole | | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | | 6 | **stand** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the door | | | | before Wisps *= wisp* | open *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before they=Location | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 202](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/211/202/) - next →: [sentence 204](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/211/204/) - ↑ back to [The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Says the Moor Woman](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/211/)