---
title: The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words; but he… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words; but he was wiser than many people, and when he did not understand, he thought it was well to obey. Who acts: cobbler, two more. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Story of Wali Dâd the Simple-Hearted, part 4, with its de
---

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# The Brown Fairy Book, Story of Wali Dâd the Simple-Hearted, part 4, sentence 78

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words; but he was wiser than many people, and when he did not understand, he thought it was well to obey.

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**Who acts:** cobbler, two more · **What happens:** not know, make, be, not understand, think, obey · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Story of Wali Dâd the Simple-Hearted, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cobbler, two more), 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:pg3282:37:78
# text = The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words; but he was wiser than many people, and when he did not understand, he thought it was well to obey.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cobbler	cobbler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	12	det	_	_
11	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	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	cop	_	_
17	wiser	wise	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	parataxis	_	_
18	than	than	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
23	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	27	mark	_	_
24	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
27	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	cop	_	_
33	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	30	ccomp	_	_
34	to	to	PART	TO	_	35	mark	_	_
35	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | the cobbler |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of this strange words | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset what=Product |
| 3 | **is** | past | cobbler |  |  |  |  | than many people; wise *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **understand** | past · do-support | cobbler |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **think** *speech: other* | past | cobbler |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **is** | past | two more *= more* |  |  |  |  | well *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **obey** | to-infinitive | two more *= more* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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