--- title: At first he tried to think that he was dreaming, and for a long whil… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: At first he tried to think that he was dreaming, and for a long while he kept his eyes shut very tight to what he did not want to see, but in spite of his efforts, the truth managed to wriggle through, and then the young man gave up trying to deceive himself, and set about finding some way to get th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/20/6/) [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 Brown Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/) / [The Brown Fairy Book, part 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/20/) / 6 # The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 20, sentence 6 At first he tried to think that he was dreaming, and for a long while he kept his eyes shut very tight to what he did not want to see, but in spite of his efforts, the truth managed to wriggle through, and then the young man gave up trying to deceive himself, and set about finding some way to get the better of his rival. **Who acts:** maiden, eyes, truth, young man · **What happens:** try, think, dream, keep, shut, not want · **To what, where:** eyes, spite, maiden, way, efforts This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 20. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (maiden, eyes, truth, young man), 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:pg3282:20:6 # text = At first he tried to think that he was dreaming, and for a long while he kept his eyes shut very tight to what he did not want to see, but in spite of his efforts, the truth managed to wriggle through, and then the young man gave up trying to deceive himself, and set about finding some way to get the better of his rival. 1 At at ADP IN _ 2 case _ _ 2 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 4 obl _ _ 3 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 think think VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 9 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 10 dreaming dream VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 6 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 13 for for ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 advmod _ _ 16 while while SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 18 kept keep VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 advcl _ _ 19 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 20 nmod:poss _ _ 20 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 18 obj _ _ 21 shut shut VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 18 xcomp _ _ 22 very very ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 tight tight ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 xcomp _ _ 24 to to ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 what what PRON WP PronType=Rel 23 obl _ _ 26 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 27 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 28 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 29 advmod _ _ 29 want want VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 acl:relcl _ _ 30 to to PART TO _ 31 mark _ _ 31 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 33 but but CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 34 in in ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 35 spite spite NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ _ 36 of of ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 38 nmod:poss _ _ 38 efforts effort NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 truth truth NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 nsubj _ _ 42 managed manage VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 43 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 44 wriggle wriggle VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 42 xcomp _ _ 45 through through ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 52 punct _ _ 47 and and CCONJ CC _ 52 cc _ _ 48 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 52 advmod _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 50 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 amod _ _ 51 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 nsubj _ _ 52 gave give VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 53 up up ADP RP _ 52 compound:prt _ _ 54 trying try VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 52 xcomp _ _ 55 to to PART TO _ 56 mark _ _ 56 deceive deceive VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 54 xcomp _ _ 57 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 56 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 60 punct _ _ 59 and and CCONJ CC _ 60 cc _ _ 60 set set VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 52 advcl _ _ 61 about about SCONJ IN _ 62 mark _ _ 62 finding find VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 60 advcl _ _ 63 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 64 det _ _ 64 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ _ 65 to to PART TO _ 66 mark _ _ 66 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 64 acl _ _ 67 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 68 det _ _ 68 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 66 xcomp _ _ 69 of of ADP IN _ 71 case _ _ 70 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 71 nmod:poss _ _ 71 rival rival NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 72 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **try** | past | maiden | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **think** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | maiden *not said here* | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **dream** | past · progressive | maiden | | | | | | vn cognize-85 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **keep** | past | maiden | maiden's eyes | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **shut** | participle | maiden's eyes *not said here* | | | | | tight *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 6 | **not** **want** | past · do-support | maiden | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 7 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | maiden *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **manage** | past | the truth | | | spite of maiden's efforts | | | vn succeed-74-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 9 | **wriggle** | to-infinitive | the truth *not said here* | | | | | through *property* | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 10 | **give up** | past | the young man | | | | then | | tree rules | | 11 | **try** | gerund | the young man *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 12 | **deceive** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the young man *not said here* | maiden | | | | | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Patient | | 13 | **set** | infinitive | the young man *not said here* | | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 14 | **find** | gerund | the young man *not said here* | some way | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Topic | | 15 | **get** | to-infinitive | the young man *not said here* | some way *not said here* | | | | good *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 16 | **spite** | | | maiden's efforts | | | | | nom spite «feeling transitive»: of=patient | 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 Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3282 (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 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/20/5/) - next →: [sentence 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/20/7/) - ↑ back to [The Brown Fairy Book, part 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/20/)