---
title: When he had read it the governor was certainly a little astonished;… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: When he had read it the governor was certainly a little astonished; but he was told in the letter to “ask no questions,” and he knew how to obey orders. Who acts: Nur, governor. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate, with its dependenc
---

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# The Brown Fairy Book, Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate, sentence 169

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When he had read it the governor was certainly a little astonished; but he was told in the letter to “ask no questions,” and he knew how to obey orders.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Nur, governor · **What happens:** read, be, tell, ask, know, obey · **To what, where:** letter, Nur, questions, orders · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Nur, governor), 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:pg3282:33:169
# text = When he had read it the governor was certainly a little astonished; but he was told in the letter to “ask no questions,” and he knew how to obey orders.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	read	read	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	governor	governor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
9	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	astonished	astonished	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	parataxis	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
24	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	25	det	_	_
25	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	23	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
31	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	33	advmod	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	xcomp	_	_
34	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | past · perfect | Nur | letter |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | past | the governor |  |  |  |  | a little *obl:unmarked*; astonished, certainly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | Nur |  | the letter |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | infinitive |  | no questions |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent question=Recipient |
| 5 | **know** | past | Nur |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 6 | **obey** | to-infinitive | Nur *not said here* | orders |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent order=Theme |

<!-- .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 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.

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