---
title: So well content was the giant to possess the sword he had coveted fo… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: So well content was the giant to possess the sword he had coveted for many a year, that he began at once to whirl it through the air, and to cut and slash with it. Who acts: well content, colt. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 8, with its dependency tree and the pr
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 8, sentence 45

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So well content was the giant to possess the sword he had coveted for many a year, that he began at once to whirl it through the air, and to cut and slash with it.

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**Who acts:** well content, colt · **What happens:** be, possess, covet, begin, whirl, cut · **To what, where:** sword, air

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This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (well content, colt), 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:pg3027:8:45
# text = So well content was the giant to possess the sword he had coveted for many a year, that he began at once to whirl it through the air, and to cut and slash with it.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	well	well	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	content	content	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	possess	possess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	coveted	covet	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
21	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
22	at	at	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	21	obl	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	whirl	whirl	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
26	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	through	through	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	slash	slash	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	conj	_	_
36	with	with	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | well content |  |  |  |  | giant *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **possess** | to-infinitive |  | the sword |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sword=Theme |
| 3 | **covet** | past · perfect | colt | the sword *not said here* |  |  | year |  | vn want-32.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sword=Theme |
| 4 | **begin** | past | colt |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 5 | **whirl** | to-infinitive | colt *not said here* | Sword |  | the air |  |  | vn coil-9.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent it=Theme through air=Destination |
| 6 | **cut** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **slash** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with Sword | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V PP PP»: agent=Agent with it=Instrument |

<!-- .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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