---
title: Then the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself very quickly… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself very quickly from the rock, and spanked the Elephant’s Child with his scalesome, flailsome tail. Who acts: Bi Coloured Rock Snake. A sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, The Elephant’s Child, with its dependency tree and the pragma
---

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# Just so stories, The Elephant’s Child, sentence 29

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Then the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself very quickly from the rock, and spanked the Elephant’s Child with his scalesome, flailsome tail.

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**Who acts:** Bi Coloured Rock Snake · **What happens:** uncoil, spank · **To what, where:** Snake, Child

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This is a sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, The Elephant’s Child. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Bi Coloured Rock Snake), 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:pg2781:6:29
# text = Then the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake uncoiled himself very quickly from the rock, and spanked the Elephant’s Child with his scalesome, flailsome tail.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
3	Bi	bi	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Coloured	coloured	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	Snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	uncoiled	uncoil	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obj	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	spanked	spank	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	Elephant	Elephant	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	’s	's	PART	POS	_	23	case	_	_
25	Child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
27	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
28	scalesome	scalesome	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
30	flailsome	flailsome	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **uncoil** | past | the Bi Coloured Rock Snake | Snake |  |  | then | from the rock; quickly *property* | vn separate-23.1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent himself=Patient from rock=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **spank** | past | the Bi Coloured Rock Snake *not said here* | the Elephant's Child |  |  |  | with Child's scalesome flailsome tail | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent child=Patient with tail=Instrument |

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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:** «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, Project Gutenberg book 2781 (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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