--- title: He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the thick underwood… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and breast were above the nest, and then what an overpower --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/58/40/) [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/) / [VII. the Eagle's Nest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/58/) / 40 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, VII. the Eagle's Nest, sentence 40 He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and breast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stench came from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois, and birds. **Who acts:** Rudy, thick underwood, trees, head, overpowering stench, nest · **What happens:** try, stunt, rest, form, find, support · **To what, where:** strength, nest, weight, trees, Rudy, ladder · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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, thick underwood, trees, head), 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:pg27200:58:40 # text = He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and breast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stench came from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois, and birds. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 strength strength NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 stunted stunt VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 amod _ _ 8 trees tree NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 12 thick thick ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 amod _ _ 13 underwood underwood NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 14 upon upon ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 18 obl _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 17 nest nest NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 18 rested rest VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 21 of of ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 22 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 25 obl _ _ 23 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj:pass _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 aux:pass _ _ 25 formed form VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 18 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 finding find VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 advcl _ _ 29 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 30 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 31 support support VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 ccomp _ _ 32 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 33 nmod:poss _ _ 33 weight weight NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 grasped grasp VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 37 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 obj _ _ 38 firmly firmly ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 41 swung swing VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 42 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 41 obj _ _ 43 up up ADP RP _ 41 compound:prt _ _ 44 from from ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 ladder ladder NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ _ 47 till till ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 48 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 49 nmod:poss _ _ 49 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ _ 50 and and CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 51 breast breast NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 conj _ _ 52 were be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 49 acl _ _ 53 above above ADP IN _ 55 case _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 55 det _ _ 55 nest nest NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 59 punct _ _ 57 and and CCONJ CC _ 59 cc _ _ 58 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 59 advmod _ _ 59 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 41 parataxis _ _ 60 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 61 overpowering overpower VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 62 amod _ _ 62 stench stench NOUN NN Number=Sing 63 nsubj _ _ 63 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 59 acl:relcl _ _ 64 from from ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 65 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 63 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 66 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 67 for for SCONJ IN _ 70 mark _ _ 68 in in SCONJ IN _ 70 mark _ _ 69 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 70 nsubj _ _ 70 lay lie VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 parataxis _ _ 71 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 73 det _ _ 72 putrid putrid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 73 amod _ _ 73 remains remains NOUN NNS Number=Ptan 70 obj _ _ 74 of of ADP IN _ 75 case _ _ 75 lambs lamb NOUN NNS Number=Plur 73 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 76 , , PUNCT , _ 77 punct _ _ 77 chamois chamois NOUN NN Number=Sing 75 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 78 , , PUNCT , _ 80 punct _ _ 79 and and CCONJ CC _ 80 cc _ _ 80 birds bird NOUN NNS Number=Plur 70 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 81 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **try** | past | Rudy | the strength of the stunted trees | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent strength=Eventuality | | 2 | **stunt** | participle | | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **rest** | past | the thick underwood | | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon which=Location | | 4 | **form** | past · passive | | nest | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme | | 5 | **find** | gerund | Rudy *not said here* | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 6 | **support** | would | trees *= tree* | Rudy's weight | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer weight=Stimulus | | 7 | **grasp** | past | Rudy | trees *= tree* | | | | firmly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus | | 8 | **swing up** | past | | Rudy | | the ladder | till Rudy's head and breast | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent himself=Theme from ladder=Trajectory | | 9 | **be** | past | Rudy's head and breast *not said here* | | | the nest | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme above nest=Location | | 10 | **overpower** | gerund | | | | | | | tree rules | | 11 | **come** | past | a overpowering stench | | | nest | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from it=Initial\_Location | | 12 | **lie** | past | nest | the putrid remains of lambs and chamois | | | | birds *obl* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location remains=Theme | 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 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/58/39/) - next →: [sentence 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/58/41/) - ↑ back to [VII. the Eagle's Nest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/58/)