---
title: But sometimes, when the procession had to cross a little stream, or… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: But sometimes, when the procession had to cross a little stream, or go over a piece of marshy ground, orders would be given for a halt; fine clothes were thrown off, bridles were flung aside, and grasshoppers, water-rats, even the frog herself, spent a delightful hour or two playing in the mud. Who 
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 28, sentence 63

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But sometimes, when the procession had to cross a little stream, or go over a piece of marshy ground, orders would be given for a halt; fine clothes were thrown off, bridles were flung aside, and grasshoppers, water-rats, even the frog herself, spent a delightful hour or two playing in the mud.

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**Who acts:** procession, piece · **What happens:** have, cross, go, give, throw off, fling · **To what, where:** little stream, piece, orders, fine clothes, bridles, mud

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 28. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (procession, piece), 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:pg3027:28:63
# text = But sometimes, when the procession had to cross a little stream, or go over a piece of marshy ground, orders would be given for a halt; fine clothes were thrown off, bridles were flung aside, and grasshoppers, water-rats, even the frog herself, spent a delightful hour or two playing in the mud.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
2	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	procession	procession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	cross	cross	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
16	over	over	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	marshy	marshy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nsubj:pass	_	_
24	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	acl	_	_
27	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	halt	halt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
31	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	34	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	aux:pass	_	_
34	thrown	throw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	parataxis	_	_
35	off	off	ADP	RP	_	34	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
37	bridles	bridle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	nsubj:pass	_	_
38	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	aux:pass	_	_
39	flung	fling	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	34	conj	_	_
40	aside	aside	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
43	grasshoppers	grasshopper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
45	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
49	even	even	ADV	RB	_	51	advmod	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	frog	frog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
52	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	51	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
54	spent	spend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	conj	_	_
55	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
56	delightful	delightful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
57	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obj	_	_
58	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
59	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	57	conj	_	_
60	playing	play	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	54	advcl	_	_
61	in	in	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	63	det	_	_
63	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the procession |  |  |  |  | sometimes *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **cross** | to-infinitive | the procession *not said here* | a little stream |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stream=Patient |
| 3 | **go** | infinitive | the procession *not said here* |  |  | a piece of marshy ground |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme over piece=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **give** | would · passive | a piece of marshy ground *not said here* | orders |  |  |  | for a halt | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: subject=Theme for halt=Asset |
| 5 | **throw off** | past · passive |  | fine clothes |  |  |  | grasshoppers *obl*; water rats *obl*; the frog  frog *obl* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **fling** | past · passive |  | bridles |  |  |  | aside *property* | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **spend** | past |  |  |  |  | hour |  | vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **play** | gerund |  |  |  | the mud |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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