---
title: Things went on like this for some weeks, when, one day, as the king'… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Things went on like this for some weeks, when, one day, as the king's son was riding through the forest, he heard some strange birds singing more sweetly than birds had ever sung before. Who acts: Things, son, strange birds. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 12, wit
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 12, sentence 75

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Things went on like this for some weeks, when, one day, as the king's son was riding through the forest, he heard some strange birds singing more sweetly than birds had ever sung before.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Things, son, strange birds · **What happens:** go on, ride, hear, sing · **To what, where:** forest, strange birds

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 12. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Things, son, strange birds), 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:pg3027:12:75
# text = Things went on like this for some weeks, when, one day, as the king's son was riding through the forest, he heard some strange birds singing more sweetly than birds had ever sung before.
1	Things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	's	's	PART	POS	_	17	case	_	_
19	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
20	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	riding	ride	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
22	through	through	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
28	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	30	det	_	_
29	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obj	_	_
31	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	30	acl	_	_
32	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	33	advmod	_	_
33	sweetly	sweetly	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
34	than	than	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	_
36	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
37	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	38	advmod	_	_
38	sung	sing	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	31	advcl	_	_
39	before	before	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go on** | past | Things |  |  |  | day; week | like this | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **ride** | past · progressive | the king's son |  |  | the forest |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent through forest=Trajectory |
| 3 | **hear** | past | son | some strange birds |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer bird=Stimulus |
| 4 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund | some strange birds *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **sing** *speech: express* | past · perfect | some strange birds *not said here* |  |  |  | ever | than birds; before, sweetly *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=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 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.

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