---
title: As if acknowledging a power greater than theirs, the monstrous thing… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: As if acknowledging a power greater than theirs, the monstrous things instantly parted to the right and left of the wizard, but closed their ranks again as they approached Bernez. Who acts: monstrous things, things. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 26, 
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 26, sentence 47

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As if acknowledging a power greater than theirs, the monstrous things instantly parted to the right and left of the wizard, but closed their ranks again as they approached Bernez.

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**Who acts:** monstrous things, things · **What happens:** acknowledge, part, leave, close, approach · **To what, where:** ranks, Bernez

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 26. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (monstrous things, things), 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:pg3454:26:47
# text = As if acknowledging a power greater than theirs, the monstrous things instantly parted to the right and left of the wizard, but closed their ranks again as they approached Bernez.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	acknowledging	acknowledge	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	advcl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
6	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	theirs	their	PRON	PRP	Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	monstrous	monstrous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
13	instantly	instantly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	parted	part	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	right	right	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	wizard	wizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	closed	close	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
26	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	ranks	rank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obj	_	_
28	again	again	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
29	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
30	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
31	approached	approach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	advcl	_	_
32	Bernez	Bernez	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acknowledge** | gerund | the monstrous things *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn confess-37.10 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **part** | past | the monstrous things |  |  |  |  | to the right; instantly *property* | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **leave** | past | the monstrous things *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of the wizard | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme of wizard=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **close** | past | the monstrous things *not said here* | herbs's ranks |  |  | again |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rank=Patient |
| 5 | **approach** | past | things *= thing* | Bernez |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bernez=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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