---
title: Then he would go into the cowsheds and unfasten the chains that fixe… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Then he would go into the cowsheds and unfasten the chains that fixed each beast in its own stall, and let them fall with a heavy clang to the ground. Who acts: thing, chains. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 10, with its dependency tree and the pragmat
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 10, sentence 28

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Then he would go into the cowsheds and unfasten the chains that fixed each beast in its own stall, and let them fall with a heavy clang to the ground.

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**Who acts:** thing, chains · **What happens:** go, unfasten, fix, let, fall · **To what, where:** cowsheds, chains, beast, own stall

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (thing, chains), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg3454:10:28
# text = Then he would go into the cowsheds and unfasten the chains that fixed each beast in its own stall, and let them fall with a heavy clang to the ground.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cowsheds	cowshed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	unfasten	unfasten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	chains	chain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	fixed	fix	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
14	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
15	beast	beast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	stall	stall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
23	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	_
25	with	with	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	clang	clang	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
29	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | would | thing |  |  | the cowsheds | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into cowshed=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **unfasten** | infinitive | thing *not said here* | the chains |  |  |  |  | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chain=Patient |
| 3 | **fix** | past | the chains | each beast |  | beast's own stall |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent beast=Patient |
| 4 | **let** | infinitive |  | chains *= chain* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **fall** | infinitive | chains *= chain* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with a heavy clang to the ground | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=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 Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3454 (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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