--- title: The butcher got ready his pole-axe; but just as he was going to stri… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The butcher got ready his pole-axe; but just as he was going to strike, the cow changed itself into a dove and flew away, and the butcher stood staring after it as if he were turned to stone. Who acts: butcher, cow. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 39, with its dep --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/39/44/) [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 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/39/) / 44 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 39, sentence 44 The butcher got ready his pole-axe; but just as he was going to strike, the cow changed itself into a dove and flew away, and the butcher stood staring after it as if he were turned to stone. **Who acts:** butcher, cow · **What happens:** get, go, strike, change, fly away, stand · **To what, where:** axe, dove, butcher, stone This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 39. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (butcher, cow), 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:pg3027:39:44 # text = The butcher got ready his pole-axe; but just as he was going to strike, the cow changed itself into a dove and flew away, and the butcher stood staring after it as if he were turned to stone. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 butcher butcher NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 ready ready ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 xcomp _ _ 5 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 8 nmod:poss _ _ 6 pole pole NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 7 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 8 axe axe NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 9 ; ; PUNCT : _ 15 punct _ _ 10 but but CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 11 just just ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 12 as as SCONJ IN _ 15 mark _ _ 13 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 14 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 aux _ _ 15 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 strike strike VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 cow cow NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 nsubj _ _ 21 changed change VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 22 itself itself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 21 obj _ _ 23 into into ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 dove dove NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 27 flew fly VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 conj _ _ 28 away away ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 butcher butcher NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 nsubj _ _ 33 stood stand VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 34 staring stare VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 33 xcomp _ _ 35 after after ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obl _ _ 37 as as SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 38 if if SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 39 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 40 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 aux:pass _ _ 41 turned turn VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 33 advcl _ _ 42 to to ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 stone stone NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | past | the butcher | | | | | ready *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **go** | past · progressive | butcher | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **strike** | to-infinitive | butcher *not said here* | | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **change** | past | the cow | axe | | | | into a dove *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: agent=Agent itself=Patient into dove=Result | | 5 | **fly away** | past | the cow *not said here* | | | | | away *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **stand** | past | the butcher | | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 7 | **stare** | gerund | the butcher *not said here* | | | | after dove | | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **turn** | past · passive | | butcher | | stone | | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: subject=Theme to stone=Trajectory | 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 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/39/43/) - next →: [sentence 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/39/45/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/39/)