---
title: The Prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a very… — The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault · tree and pragmatics
description: The Prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a very aged countryman spake to him thus: "May it please your Royal Highness, it is now above fifty years since I heard my father, who had heard my grandfather, say that there then was in this castle, a Princess, the most beautiful was eve
---

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# The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, \_thomas Bodkin\_, part 3, sentence 10

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a very aged countryman spake to him thus: "May it please your Royal Highness, it is now above fifty years since I heard my father, who had heard my grandfather, say that there then was in this castle, a Princess, the most beautiful was ever seen; that she must sleep there a hundred years, and should be awaked by a king's son; for whom she was reserved."

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Prince, spake, some, father, Princess, son · **What happens:** be, not know, believe, please, hear, say · **To what, where:** stand, Royal Highness, father, grandfather, castle, Princess · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault» by Charles Perrault, \_thomas Bodkin\_, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Prince, spake, some, father), 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:pg29021:9:10
# text = The Prince was at a stand, not knowing what to believe, when a very aged countryman spake to him thus: "May it please your Royal Highness, it is now above fifty years since I heard my father, who had heard my grandfather, say that there then was in this castle, a Princess, the most beautiful was ever seen; that she must sleep there a hundred years, and should be awaked by a king's son; for whom she was reserved."
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stand	stand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	obj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	19	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
16	very	very	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	aged	aged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	countryman	countryman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	spake	speak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nmod	_	_
22	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	27	punct	_	_
24	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	May	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	please	please	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
28	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
29	Royal	Royal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	compound	_	_
30	Highness	highness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
32	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
33	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
34	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	37	advmod	_	_
35	above	above	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	37	nummod	_	_
37	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obl	_	_
38	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
39	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
40	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	advcl	_	_
41	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	42	nmod:poss	_	_
42	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	46	nsubj	_	_
45	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
46	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	42	acl:relcl	_	_
47	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	48	nmod:poss	_	_
48	grandfather	grandfather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
50	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	conj	_	_
51	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
52	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	50	ccomp	_	_
53	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	57	advmod	_	_
54	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	57	cop	_	_
55	in	in	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
56	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	57	det	_	_
57	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
59	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	60	det	_	_
60	Princess	Princess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	57	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	64	punct	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
63	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	64	advmod	_	_
64	beautiful	beautiful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	60	amod	_	_
65	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	67	aux:pass	_	_
66	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	67	advmod	_	_
67	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	64	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
68	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	72	punct	_	_
69	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	72	mark	_	_
70	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	72	nsubj	_	_
71	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	72	aux	_	_
72	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	conj	_	_
73	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	72	advmod	_	_
74	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	75	det	_	_
75	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	76	nummod	_	_
76	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	72	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
77	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	81	punct	_	_
78	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	81	cc	_	_
79	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	81	aux	_	_
80	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	81	aux:pass	_	_
81	awaked	awak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	27	conj	_	_
82	by	by	ADP	IN	_	86	case	_	_
83	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	84	det	_	_
84	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	86	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
85	's	's	PART	POS	_	84	case	_	_
86	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	81	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
87	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	89	punct	_	_
88	for	for	ADP	IN	_	89	case	_	_
89	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	81	obl	_	_
90	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	92	nsubj	_	_
91	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	92	aux:pass	_	_
92	reserved	reserve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	89	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
93	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
94	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the Prince |  |  | a stand and a aged countryman spake to son |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **know** | gerund | the Prince *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **believe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 4 | **please** *in a quote* | may | spake *= speak* | your Royal Highness |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus highness=Experiencer |
| 5 | **is** *in a quote* | present | spake *= speak* |  |  |  | above fifty years; now |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **hear** *in a quote* | past | some | my father |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer father=Stimulus |
| 7 | **hear** *in a quote* | past · perfect | my father | my grandfather |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer grandfather=Stimulus |
| 8 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive | spake *= speak* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **is** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  | this castle and a Princess | then |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **see** *in a quote* | past · passive |  |  |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V» |
| 11 | **sleep** *in a quote* | must | Princess |  |  | there | year |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 12 | **awak** *in a quote* | should · passive | a king's son |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 13 | **reserve** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | Princess |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=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:** «The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault» by Charles Perrault, Project Gutenberg book 29021 (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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