---
title: When Rudy began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the s… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: When Rudy began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider, when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he felt more confidence,--he knew that they had been fastened securely by skilful hands. Who ac
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, VII. the Eagle's Nest, sentence 34

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When Rudy began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider, when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he felt more confidence,--he knew that they had been fastened securely by skilful hands.

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**Who acts:** Rudy, wind, skilful hands · **What happens:** begin, ascend, tremble, draw out, reach, bind · **To what, where:** ladder, long delicate threads, fourth, ladders, more confidence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, VII. the Eagle's Nest. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Rudy, wind, skilful hands), 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:pg27200:58:34
# text = When Rudy began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider, when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he felt more confidence,--he knew that they had been fastened securely by skilful hands.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	Rudy	Rudy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	advcl	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	ascend	ascend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ladder	ladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	trembled	tremble	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	web	web	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	19	mark	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	draws	draw	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
20	out	out	ADP	RP	_	19	compound:prt	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
22	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
24	delicate	delicate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	threads	thread	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
28	as	as	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
29	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	32	advmod	_	_
30	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	fourth	fourth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	ladders	ladder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
39	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	42	nsubj:pass	_	_
40	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
41	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	42	aux:pass	_	_
42	bound	bind	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	37	acl	_	_
43	together	together	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
45	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	parataxis	_	_
47	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	48	amod	_	_
48	confidence	confidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
52	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
53	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	57	mark	_	_
54	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	57	nsubj:pass	_	_
55	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	57	aux	_	_
56	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	57	aux:pass	_	_
57	fastened	fasten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	52	ccomp	_	_
58	securely	securely	ADV	RB	_	57	advmod	_	_
59	by	by	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
60	skilful	skilful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	61	amod	_	_
61	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	52	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | Rudy |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **ascend** | to-infinitive | Rudy *not said here* | the ladder |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **tremble** | participle |  | the ladder *not said here* |  |  |  | like the web of the spider | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **draw out** | present | wind | the long delicate threads |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thread=Theme |
| 5 | **reach** | past | Rudy | the fourth of the ladders |  |  |  | soon *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent fourth=Theme |
| 6 | **bind** | past · perfect · passive |  | the ladders |  |  |  | together *property* | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 7 | **feel** | past | Rudy | more confidence |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent confidence=Theme |
| 8 | **know** | past | Rudy |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 9 | **fasten** | past · perfect · passive | skilful hands | ladders *= ladder* |  |  |  | securely *property* | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

<!-- .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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