--- title: Then the king swore a solemn oath that he would never leave the spot… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Then the king swore a solemn oath that he would never leave the spot without taking them if it should cost him his life; and he meant it, though at the moment he did not know what he was undertaking. Who acts: king, spot. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29, with i --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/29/18/) [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 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/29/) / 18 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 29, sentence 18 Then the king swore a solemn oath that he would never leave the spot without taking them if it should cost him his life; and he meant it, though at the moment he did not know what he was undertaking. **Who acts:** king, spot · **What happens:** swear, not leave, take, cost, mean, not know · **To what, where:** solemn oath, spot, hands, life, king · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (king, spot), 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:pg3027:29:18 # text = Then the king swore a solemn oath that he would never leave the spot without taking them if it should cost him his life; and he meant it, though at the moment he did not know what he was undertaking. 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 swore swear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 6 solemn solemn ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 oath oath NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 8 that that SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 10 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 11 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 12 advmod _ _ 12 leave leave VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 spot spot NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obj _ _ 15 without without SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 16 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 12 advcl _ _ 17 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 obj _ _ 18 if if SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 19 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 20 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 21 cost cost VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 advcl _ _ 22 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 iobj _ _ 23 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 24 nmod:poss _ _ 24 life life NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 25 ; ; PUNCT : _ 28 punct _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 27 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 28 meant mean VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 29 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 31 though though SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 32 at at ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 moment moment NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obl _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj _ _ 36 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 37 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 38 advmod _ _ 38 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 conj _ _ 39 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 42 obj _ _ 40 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 41 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 42 undertaking undertake VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 38 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **swear** | past | the king | a solemn oath | | | then | | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent oath=Eventuality | | 2 | **not** **leave** | would | king | the spot | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spot=Theme | | 3 | **take** | gerund | king *not said here* | hands *= hand* | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 4 | **cost** *a condition, not said to happen* | should | spot | king's life | king | | | | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Theme he=Beneficiary life=Value | | 5 | **mean** | past | king | life | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic | | 6 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | king | | | | moment | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 7 | **undertake** | past · progressive | king | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | 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 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/29/17/) - next →: [sentence 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/29/19/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/29/)