--- title: Now the prince wanted to test the wits of his two sons; he wanted to… — Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales · tree and pragmatics description: Now the prince wanted to test the wits of his two sons; he wanted to see which of the twain was fit for ruling his empire, and which should stand aside and make way for better men. Who acts: prince. A sentence of «Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales», The Story of the Unlucky Days, part 1, with its d --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/25/42/) [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/) / [Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/) / [The Story of the Unlucky Days, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/25/) / 42 # Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales, The Story of the Unlucky Days, part 1, sentence 42 Now the prince wanted to test the wits of his two sons; he wanted to see which of the twain was fit for ruling his empire, and which should stand aside and make way for better men. **Who acts:** prince · **What happens:** want, test, see, be, rule, stand · **To what, where:** wits, empire, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales», The Story of the Unlucky Days, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (prince), 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:pg29672:25:42 # text = Now the prince wanted to test the wits of his two sons; he wanted to see which of the twain was fit for ruling his empire, and which should stand aside and make way for better men. 1 Now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 prince prince NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 test test VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 wits wit NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obj _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 10 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 12 nmod:poss _ _ 11 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 12 nummod _ _ 12 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ; ; PUNCT : _ 15 punct _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 15 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 xcomp _ _ 18 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 23 nsubj _ _ 19 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 twain twain NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ _ 22 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 23 fit fit ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 ccomp _ _ 24 for for SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 25 ruling rule VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 advcl _ _ 26 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 empire empire NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 30 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 31 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 stand stand VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 parataxis _ _ 33 aside aside ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 35 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 conj _ _ 36 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obj _ _ 37 for for ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 38 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 39 amod _ _ 39 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **want** | past | the prince | | | | now | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 2 | **test** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the prince *not said here* | the wits of Prince's two sons | | | | | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wit=Theme | | 3 | **want** | past | Prince | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 4 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Prince *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **is** | past | | | | | | of the twain; fit *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **rule** | gerund | | Prince's empire | | | | | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent empire=Theme | | 7 | **stand** | should | | | | | | aside *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **make** | infinitive | | way | | | | for better men | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent way=Product for man=Beneficiary | 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:** «Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales», Project Gutenberg book 29672 (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 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/25/41/) - next →: [sentence 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/25/43/) - ↑ back to [The Story of the Unlucky Days, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/25/)