--- title: He asked another cowherd for advice, and he said the best thing he c… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: He asked another cowherd for advice, and he said the best thing he could do was to go across and kill the goldsmith's wife, for then the goldsmith would be sure to regard him as an enemy; so, being a foolish person, and there being no laws in that country by which a man would be certainly punished f --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/11/75/) [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/) / [The Orange Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/) / [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/11/) / 75 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 11, sentence 75 He asked another cowherd for advice, and he said the best thing he could do was to go across and kill the goldsmith's wife, for then the goldsmith would be sure to regard him as an enemy; so, being a foolish person, and there being no laws in that country by which a man would be certainly punished for such a crime, the cowherd one evening took a big stick and went across to the goldsmith's house when only Mrs. Goldsmith was at home, and banged her on the head so hard that she died then and there. **Who acts:** Goldsmith, best thing, country, laws, Mrs. · **What happens:** ask, say, do, be, kill, regard · **To what, where:** cowherd, best thing, wife, Goldsmith, foolish person, man · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Goldsmith, best thing, country, laws), 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:pg3027:11:75 # text = He asked another cowherd for advice, and he said the best thing he could do was to go across and kill the goldsmith's wife, for then the goldsmith would be sure to regard him as an enemy; so, being a foolish person, and there being no laws in that country by which a man would be certainly punished for such a crime, the cowherd one evening took a big stick and went across to the goldsmith's house when only Mrs. Goldsmith was at home, and banged her on the head so hard that she died then and there. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 4 det _ _ 4 cowherd cowherd NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 for for ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 advice advice NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 10 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 12 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 13 amod _ _ 13 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nsubj:outer _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 16 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 acl:relcl _ _ 17 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 cop _ _ 18 to to PART TO _ 19 mark _ _ 19 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 ccomp _ _ 20 across across ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 kill kill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 conj _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 goldsmith goldsmith NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 25 's 's PART POS _ 24 case _ _ 26 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 28 for for SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 29 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 34 advmod _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 goldsmith goldsmith NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nsubj _ _ 32 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 34 aux _ _ 33 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 34 cop _ _ 34 sure sure ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 conj _ _ 35 to to PART TO _ 36 mark _ _ 36 regard regard VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 xcomp _ _ 37 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 obj _ _ 38 as as ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ; ; PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 42 so so ADV RB _ 47 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 44 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 47 cop _ _ 45 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 46 foolish foolish ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 person person NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ _ 49 and and CCONJ CC _ 74 cc _ _ 50 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 74 expl _ _ 51 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 74 cop _ _ 52 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 53 det _ _ 53 laws law NOUN NNS Number=Plur 74 nsubj _ _ 54 in in ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 55 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 56 det _ _ 56 country country NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 nmod _ _ 57 by by ADP IN _ 58 case _ _ 58 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 64 obl _ _ 59 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 60 det _ _ 60 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 nsubj:pass _ _ 61 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 64 aux _ _ 62 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 64 aux:pass _ _ 63 certainly certainly ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ _ 64 punished punish VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 56 acl:relcl _ _ 65 for for ADP IN _ 68 case _ _ 66 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 68 det:predet _ _ 67 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 68 det _ _ 68 crime crime NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 69 , , PUNCT , _ 71 punct _ _ 70 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 71 det _ _ 71 cowherd cowherd NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 conj _ _ 72 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 73 nummod _ _ 73 evening evening NOUN NN Number=Sing 71 obl:unmarked _ _ 74 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 75 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 77 det _ _ 76 big big ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 77 amod _ _ 77 stick stick NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obj _ _ 78 and and CCONJ CC _ 79 cc _ _ 79 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 74 conj _ _ 80 across across ADV RB _ 79 advmod _ _ 81 to to ADP IN _ 85 case _ _ 82 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 83 det _ _ 83 goldsmith goldsmith NOUN NN Number=Sing 85 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 84 's 's PART POS _ 83 case _ _ 85 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 79 obl _ _ 86 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 92 advmod _ _ 87 only only ADV RB _ 88 advmod _ _ 88 Mrs. Mrs. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 92 nsubj _ _ 89 Goldsmith Goldsmith PROPN NNP Number=Sing 88 flat _ _ 90 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 92 cop _ _ 91 at at ADP IN _ 92 case _ _ 92 home home NOUN NN Number=Sing 79 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 93 , , PUNCT , _ 95 punct _ _ 94 and and CCONJ CC _ 95 cc _ _ 95 banged bang VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 96 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 95 obj _ _ 97 on on ADP IN _ 99 case _ _ 98 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 99 det _ _ 99 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 95 obl _ _ 100 so so ADV RB _ 101 advmod _ _ 101 hard hard ADV RB Degree=Pos 95 advmod _ _ 102 that that SCONJ IN _ 104 mark _ _ 103 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 104 nsubj _ _ 104 died die VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 95 advcl _ _ 105 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 104 advmod _ _ 106 and and CCONJ CC _ 107 cc _ _ 107 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 105 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 108 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Goldsmith | another cowherd | | | | for advice | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent cowherd=Recipient | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Goldsmith | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **do** | could | Goldsmith | the best thing *not said here* | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality | | 4 | **is** | past | the best thing | | | | | across, go *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **kill** | infinitive | the best thing *not said here* | the goldsmith's wife | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme | | 6 | **is** | would | the goldsmith | | | | then | sure *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **regard** | to-infinitive | the goldsmith *not said here* | Goldsmith | | | | as a enemy | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent he=Theme as enemy=Value | | 8 | **is a** | gerund | | a foolish person | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **punish** | would · passive | that country | a man | | | | for such crime and the cowherd; certainly *property* | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent subject=Patient for crime=Theme | | 10 | **is** | gerund | no laws in that country | | | there | | take *property* | tree rules | | 11 | **go** | past | no laws in that country *not said here* | | | the goldsmith's house | | across *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to house=Initial\_Location | | 12 | **is** | past | Mrs. | | | home | | | tree rules | | 13 | **bang** | past | | Mrs. | | the head | | hard *property* | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent she=Theme on head=Trajectory | | 14 | **die** | past | Mrs. | | | | then | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | 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:** «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3027 (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 74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/11/74/) - next →: [sentence 76](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/11/76/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/11/)