--- title: He pulled out his tall Ostrich aunt’s tail-feathers; and he caught h… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics description: He pulled out his tall Ostrich aunt’s tail-feathers; and he caught his tall uncle, the Giraffe, by the hind-leg, and dragged him through a thorn-bush; and he shouted at his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, and blew bubbles into her ear when she was sleeping in the water after meals; but he never let an --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/6/99/) [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/) / [Just so stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/) / [The Elephant’s Child](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/6/) / 99 # Just so stories, The Elephant’s Child, sentence 99 He pulled out his tall Ostrich aunt’s tail-feathers; and he caught his tall uncle, the Giraffe, by the hind-leg, and dragged him through a thorn-bush; and he shouted at his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, and blew bubbles into her ear when she was sleeping in the water after meals; but he never let any one touch Kolokolo Bird. **Who acts:** Child, aunt · **What happens:** pull out, catch, drag, shout, blow, sleep · **To what, where:** tail feathers, tall uncle, Child, thorn bush, bubbles, ear 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 (Child, aunt), 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:pg2781:6:99 # text = He pulled out his tall Ostrich aunt’s tail-feathers; and he caught his tall uncle, the Giraffe, by the hind-leg, and dragged him through a thorn-bush; and he shouted at his broad aunt, the Hippopotamus, and blew bubbles into her ear when she was sleeping in the water after meals; but he never let any one touch Kolokolo Bird. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 pulled pull VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 out out ADP RP _ 2 compound:prt _ _ 4 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 7 nmod:poss _ _ 5 tall tall ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 6 Ostrich ostrich NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 compound _ _ 7 aunt aunt NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ’s 's PART POS _ 7 case _ _ 9 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 10 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 feathers feather NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ; ; PUNCT : _ 15 punct _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 15 caught catch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 16 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 17 tall tall ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 18 uncle uncle NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 Giraffe Giraffe PROPN NNP Number=Sing 18 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 23 by by ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 25 hind hind ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 25 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 27 leg leg NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 30 dragged drag VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 conj _ _ 31 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 obj _ _ 32 through through ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 34 thorn thorn NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 35 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 36 bush bush NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 ; ; PUNCT : _ 40 punct _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 39 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 40 shouted shout VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 41 at at ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 42 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 43 broad broad ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 aunt aunt NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 Hippopotamus Hippopotamus PROPN NNP Number=Sing 44 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 49 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 50 blew blow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 conj _ _ 51 bubbles bubble NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 obj _ _ 52 into into ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 53 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 54 nmod:poss _ _ 54 ear ear NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obl _ _ 55 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 58 advmod _ _ 56 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 58 nsubj _ _ 57 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 58 aux _ _ 58 sleeping sleep VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 50 advcl _ _ 59 in in ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 60 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 61 det _ _ 61 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 obl _ _ 62 after after ADP IN _ 63 case _ _ 63 meals meal NOUN NNS Number=Plur 58 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 64 ; ; PUNCT : _ 68 punct _ _ 65 but but CCONJ CC _ 68 cc _ _ 66 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 68 nsubj _ _ 67 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 68 advmod _ _ 68 let let VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 69 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 71 det _ _ 70 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 71 nummod _ _ 71 touch touch NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 obj _ _ 72 Kolokolo Kolokolo PROPN NNP Number=Sing 71 appos _ _ 73 Bird Bird PROPN NNP Number=Sing 72 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 74 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **pull out** | past | Child | Child's tall Ostrich aunt's tail feathers | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **catch** | past | Child | Child's tall uncle | | | | by the hind leg | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent uncle=Theme | | 3 | **drag** | past | Child *not said here* | Child | | a thorn bush | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 4 | **shout** *speech: express* | past | Child | | | | | at Child's broad aunt | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **blow** | past | Child *not said here* | bubbles | | aunt's ear | | | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent bubble=Material into ear=Product | | 6 | **sleep** | past · progressive | aunt | | | the water | after meals | | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in water=Location | | 7 | **not** **let** | past | Child | any one touch | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent touch=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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 98](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/6/98/) - next →: [sentence 100](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/6/100/) - ↑ back to [The Elephant’s Child](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/6/)