--- title: The king was so much perplexed that he threatened the princess’s pla… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The king was so much perplexed that he threatened the princess’s playfellows with all sorts of punishments if they would not confess something about her disappearance; but as they only repeated the same story he presently put down the whole affair to the work of some sprite or goblin, and tried to c --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/31/27/) [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 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/31/) / 27 # The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 31, sentence 27 The king was so much perplexed that he threatened the princess’s playfellows with all sorts of punishments if they would not confess something about her disappearance; but as they only repeated the same story he presently put down the whole affair to the work of some sprite or goblin, and tried to console himself for his loss by ordering a grand hunt; for kings cannot bear to be troubled about anything long. **Who acts:** king, playfellows, princess, sprite · **What happens:** be, threaten, not confess, repeat, put down, try · **To what, where:** playfellows, something, same story, whole affair, console, grand hunt This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 31. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (king, playfellows, princess, sprite), 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:pg3282:31:27 # text = The king was so much perplexed that he threatened the princess’s playfellows with all sorts of punishments if they would not confess something about her disappearance; but as they only repeated the same story he presently put down the whole affair to the work of some sprite or goblin, and tried to console himself for his loss by ordering a grand hunt; for kings cannot bear to be troubled about anything long. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 4 so so ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 much much ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 perplexed perplex VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 threatened threaten VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 advcl _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 princess princess NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ’s 's PART POS _ 11 case _ _ 13 playfellows playfellow NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 obj _ _ 14 with with ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 16 det _ _ 16 sorts sort NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 nmod _ _ 17 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 punishments punishment NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 nmod _ _ 19 if if SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 20 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 21 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 23 advmod _ _ 23 confess confess VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 acl _ _ 24 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 23 obj _ _ 25 about about ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 disappearance disappearance NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ; ; PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 29 but but CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 30 as as SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 31 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 only only ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ _ 33 repeated repeat VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 advcl _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 35 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 amod _ _ 36 story story NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ _ 37 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 38 presently presently ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 put put VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 40 down down ADP RP _ 39 compound:prt _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 42 whole whole ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 43 affair affair NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 44 to to ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 work work NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 47 of of ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 48 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 49 det _ _ 49 sprite sprite NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 nmod _ _ 50 or or CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 51 goblin goblin NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 53 and and CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ _ 54 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 55 to to PART TO _ 56 mark _ _ 56 console console NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obj _ _ 57 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes 56 nmod:unmarked _ _ 58 for for ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 59 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 60 nmod:poss _ _ 60 loss loss NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obl _ _ 61 by by SCONJ IN _ 62 mark _ _ 62 ordering order VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 54 advcl _ _ 63 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 64 grand grand ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 hunt hunt NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 66 ; ; PUNCT : _ 71 punct _ _ 67 for for ADP IN _ 68 case _ _ 68 kings king NOUN NNS Number=Plur 71 obl _ _ 69 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 71 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 70 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 71 advmod _ _ 71 bear bear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 advcl _ _ 72 to to PART TO _ 74 mark _ _ 73 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 74 cop _ _ 74 troubled troubled ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 71 ccomp _ _ 75 about about ADP IN _ 76 case _ _ 76 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 74 obl _ _ 77 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 76 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 78 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | the king | | | | | perplex *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **threaten** | past | king | the princess's playfellows | | | | with all sorts of punishments | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus playfellow=Experiencer | | 3 | **not** **confess** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | playfellows *= playfellow* | something | | | | about princess's disappearance | vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Topic | | 4 | **repeat** | past | playfellows *= playfellow* | the same story | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Eventuality | | 5 | **put down** | past | king | the whole affair | | | | to the work of some sprite or goblin; presently *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent affair=Goal | | 6 | **try** | past | the king *not said here* | console king | | | | for king's loss | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent console=Theme for loss=Attribute | | 7 | **order** | gerund | the king *not said here* | a grand hunt | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hunt=Theme | | 8 | **not** **bear** | can | the king *not said here* | | | | | for kings | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for king=Attribute | | 9 | **is** | to-infinitive | the king *not said here* | | | | | about anything; troubled *property* | tree rules | | 10 | **sort** | | | punishments | | | | | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient | | 11 | **disappear** | | princess | | | | | | nom disappearance «act intransitive»: poss=agent | | 12 | **work** | | some sprite or goblin | | | | | | nom work «act intransitive»: of=agent | 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 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/31/26/) - next →: [sentence 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/31/28/) - ↑ back to [The Brown Fairy Book, part 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/31/)