--- title: Now the wolves thought they were very cunning, but the mink was more… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Now the wolves thought they were very cunning, but the mink was more cunning still; and though he sent a message by a white hare, that was going that way, saying he should be delighted to be present, he determined that he would take his precautions. Who acts: wolves, invitations, mink, Wolf. A sente --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/34/43/) [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 34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/34/) / 43 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 34, sentence 43 Now the wolves thought they were very cunning, but the mink was more cunning still; and though he sent a message by a white hare, that was going that way, saying he should be delighted to be present, he determined that he would take his precautions. **Who acts:** wolves, invitations, mink, Wolf, that · **What happens:** think, be, send, go, say, determine · **To what, where:** cunning, message, way, precautions · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 34. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wolves, invitations, mink, Wolf), 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:pg3027:34:43 # text = Now the wolves thought they were very cunning, but the mink was more cunning still; and though he sent a message by a white hare, that was going that way, saying he should be delighted to be present, he determined that he would take his precautions. 1 Now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 wolves wolf NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 4 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 6 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 7 very very ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 cunning cunning ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 10 but but CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 mink mink NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nsubj _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 cop _ _ 14 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 15 advmod _ _ 15 cunning cunning NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 conj _ _ 16 still still ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 ; ; PUNCT : _ 21 punct _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 19 though though SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 20 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 21 sent send VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 22 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 message message NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 24 by by ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 25 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 26 white white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 amod _ _ 27 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 29 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 31 nsubj _ _ 30 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 31 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ _ 32 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 33 det _ _ 33 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 35 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 31 conj _ _ 36 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 37 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 38 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 39 cop _ _ 39 delighted delighted ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 ccomp _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 41 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 42 cop _ _ 42 present present ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 44 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 45 determined determine VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 46 that that SCONJ IN _ 49 mark _ _ 47 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 48 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 49 aux _ _ 49 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 ccomp _ _ 50 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 51 nmod:poss _ _ 51 precautions precaution NOUN NNS Number=Plur 49 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | the wolves | | | | now | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is** | past | invitations *= invitation* | | | | | cunning *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **is a** | past | the mink | cunning | | | still | | tree rules | | 4 | **send** | past | Wolf | a message | | | | by a white hare | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Theme | | 5 | **go** | past · progressive | that | that way | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | that *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **is** | should | Wolf | | | | | delighted *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **is** | to-infinitive | Wolf *not said here* | | | | | present *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **determine** | past | Wolf | | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 10 | **take** | would | Wolf | Wolf's precautions | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent precaution=Theme | 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 42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/34/42/) - next →: [sentence 44](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/34/44/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/34/)