---
title: ‘Most shocking!’ said the Neolithic ladies, and they filled the Stra… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics
description: ‘Most shocking!’ said the Neolithic ladies, and they filled the Stranger-man’s hair with mud (at which he was surprised), and they beat upon the Reverberating Tribal Drums, and called together all the chiefs of the Tribe of Tegumai, with their Hetmans and Dolmans, all Neguses, Woons, and Akhoonds of
---

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# Just so stories, How the First Letter Was Written, sentence 114

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‘Most shocking!’ said the Neolithic ladies, and they filled the Stranger-man’s hair with mud (at which he was surprised), and they beat upon the Reverberating Tribal Drums, and called together all the chiefs of the Tribe of Tegumai, with their Hetmans and Dolmans, all Neguses, Woons, and Akhoonds of the organisation, in addition to the Warlocks, Angekoks, Juju-men, Bonzes, and the rest, who decided that before they chopped the Stranger-man’s head off he should instantly lead them down to the river and show them where he had hidden poor Taffy.

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**Who acts:** people, man, rest · **What happens:** say, fill, be, beat, reverberate, call together · **To what, where:** Neolithic ladies, hair, Reverberating Tribal Drums, chiefs, head, people · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the First Letter Was Written. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, man, rest), 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:pg2781:9:114
# text = ‘Most shocking!’ said the Neolithic ladies, and they filled the Stranger-man’s hair with mud (at which he was surprised), and they beat upon the Reverberating Tribal Drums, and called together all the chiefs of the Tribe of Tegumai, with their Hetmans and Dolmans, all Neguses, Woons, and Akhoonds of the organisation, in addition to the Warlocks, Angekoks, Juju-men, Bonzes, and the rest, who decided that before they chopped the Stranger-man’s head off he should instantly lead them down to the river and show them where he had hidden poor Taffy.
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	amod	_	_
3	shocking	shocking	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	Neolithic	neolithic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	ladies	lady	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	filled	fill	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	Stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	’s	's	PART	POS	_	17	case	_	_
19	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
22	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	at	at	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	27	obl	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
27	surprised	surprised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
31	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	beat	beat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
33	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
35	Reverberating	reverberate	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	37	amod	_	_
36	Tribal	tribal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
37	Drums	drum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	parataxis	_	_
41	together	together	ADV	RB	_	40	advmod	_	_
42	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	44	det:predet	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	xcomp	_	_
45	of	of	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	Tribe	Tribe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	44	nmod	_	_
48	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
49	Tegumai	Tegumai	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	47	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
51	with	with	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	53	nmod:poss	_	_
53	Hetmans	hetman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	parataxis	_	_
54	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
55	Dolmans	Dolman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	53	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
57	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	58	det	_	_
58	Neguses	negus	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
60	Woons	woon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	58	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	63	cc	_	_
63	Akhoonds	Akhoonds	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
64	of	of	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	66	det	_	_
66	organisation	organisation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	69	punct	_	_
68	in	in	ADP	IN	_	69	case	_	_
69	addition	addition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	appos	_	_
70	to	to	ADP	IN	_	72	case	_	_
71	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	72	det	_	_
72	Warlocks	warlock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	69	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
73	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	74	punct	_	_
74	Angekoks	angekok	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	72	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
75	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	78	punct	_	_
76	Juju	Juju	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	78	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
77	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	76	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	63	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	80	punct	_	_
80	Bonzes	Bonz	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	78	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
81	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	87	punct	_	_
82	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	87	cc	_	_
83	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	84	det	_	_
84	rest	rest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
85	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	87	punct	_	_
86	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	87	nsubj	_	_
87	decided	decide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
88	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	91	mark	_	_
89	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	91	mark	_	_
90	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	91	nsubj	_	_
91	chopped	chop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	87	ccomp	_	_
92	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	95	det	_	_
93	Stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	95	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
94	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	93	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	97	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
96	’s	's	PART	POS	_	95	case	_	_
97	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	91	obj	_	_
98	off	off	ADP	IN	_	102	mark	_	_
99	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	102	nsubj	_	_
100	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	102	aux	_	_
101	instantly	instantly	ADV	RB	_	102	advmod	_	_
102	lead	lead	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	91	advcl	_	_
103	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	102	obj	_	_
104	down	down	ADP	RP	_	102	compound:prt	_	_
105	to	to	ADP	IN	_	107	case	_	_
106	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	107	det	_	_
107	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	102	obl	_	_
108	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	109	cc	_	_
109	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	102	conj	_	_
110	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	109	obj	_	_
111	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	114	advmod	_	_
112	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	114	nsubj	_	_
113	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	114	aux	_	_
114	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	109	ccomp	_	_
115	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	116	amod	_	_
116	Taffy	Taffy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	114	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
117	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past |  | the Neolithic ladies |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **fill** | past | people | the Stranger man's hair |  |  |  | with mud | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent hair=Patient with mud=Instrument |
| 3 | **is** | past | man |  |  |  |  | surprised *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **beat** | present | people |  |  | the Reverberating Tribal Drums |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon drum=Location |
| 5 | **reverberate** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_existence-47.4 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **call together** *speech: assert* | participle |  | all chiefs of the Tribe of Tegumai |  |  |  | together *property* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **decide** | past | the rest |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 8 | **chop** | past | people | the Stranger man's head |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient |
| 9 | **lead down** | should | man | people |  | the river |  | instantly *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Theme to river=Destination |
| 10 | **show** | infinitive | man *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 11 | **hide** | past · perfect | man | poor Taffy |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent taffy=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:** «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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