---
title: They held out nets for me; they hid traps under leaves; they made co… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: They held out nets for me; they hid traps under leaves; they made cords of the colour of water, of the colour of weeds--but this salmon had a nose that knew how a weed felt and how a string--they drifted meat on a sightless string, but I knew of the hook; they thrust spears at me, and threw lances w
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter X, sentence 8

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They held out nets for me; they hid traps under leaves; they made cords of the colour of water, of the colour of weeds--but this salmon had a nose that knew how a weed felt and how a string--they drifted meat on a sightless string, but I knew of the hook; they thrust spears at me, and threw lances which they drew back again with a cord.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** men, salmon, nose, I · **What happens:** hold out, hide, make, have, know, drift · **To what, where:** nets, traps, leaves, cords, nose, meat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter X. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (men, salmon, nose, I), 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:pg2892:11:8
# text = They held out nets for me; they hid traps under leaves; they made cords of the colour of water, of the colour of weeds--but this salmon had a nose that knew how a weed felt and how a string--they drifted meat on a sightless string, but I knew of the hook; they thrust spears at me, and threw lances which they drew back again with a cord.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	nets	net	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hid	hide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	traps	trap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	under	under	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
16	cords	cord	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	weeds	weed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
30	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	31	det	_	_
31	salmon	salmon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nsubj	_	_
32	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	nose	nose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
35	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
36	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	acl:relcl	_	_
37	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	36	conj	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	weed	weed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
40	felt	felt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
42	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	40	conj	_	_
43	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj	_	_
47	drifted	drift	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	44	acl:relcl	_	_
48	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obj	_	_
49	on	on	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
50	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
51	sightless	sightless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	52	amod	_	_
52	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
54	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
55	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	56	nsubj	_	_
56	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	parataxis	_	_
57	of	of	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
59	hook	hook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	62	punct	_	_
61	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	62	nsubj	_	_
62	thrust	thrust	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	56	conj	_	_
63	spears	spear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	62	obj	_	_
64	at	at	ADP	IN	_	65	case	_	_
65	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	62	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
67	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	_
68	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	62	parataxis	_	_
69	lances	lance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	68	obj	_	_
70	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	72	obj	_	_
71	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	72	nsubj	_	_
72	drew	draw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	69	acl:relcl	_	_
73	back	back	ADV	RB	_	74	advmod	_	_
74	again	again	ADV	RB	_	72	advmod	_	_
75	with	with	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
76	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
77	cord	cord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	72	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold out** | past | men *= man* | nets |  |  |  | for me | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent net=Theme |
| 2 | **hide** | past | men *= man* | traps |  | leaves |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent trap=Patient under leaf=Location |
| 3 | **make** | past | men *= man* | cords of the colour of water |  |  |  | of the colour of weeds | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset cord=Product |
| 4 | **have** | past | this salmon | a nose |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nose=Patient |
| 5 | **know** | past | a nose |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **drift** | past | men *= man* | meat |  | a sightless string |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent meat=Theme on string=Trajectory |
| 7 | **know** | past | I |  |  |  |  | of the hook | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of hook=Stimulus |
| 8 | **thrust** | past | men *= man* | spears |  |  |  | at me | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spear=Theme |
| 9 | **throw** | past |  | lances |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lance=Theme |
| 10 | **draw back** | past | men *= man* | lances |  |  | again | with a cord | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (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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