---
title: Idiot though he was, he was never unhappy, but always thanked gratef… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Idiot though he was, he was never unhappy, but always thanked gratefully those who fed him, and sometimes would stop for a little and sing to them. Who acts: Idiot. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 26, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of ever
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 26, sentence 58

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Idiot though he was, he was never unhappy, but always thanked gratefully those who fed him, and sometimes would stop for a little and sing to them.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Idiot · **What happens:** not be, thank, feed, stop, sing · **To what, where:** those, Peronnik, holes

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (Idiot), 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:pg3454:26:58
# text = Idiot though he was, he was never unhappy, but always thanked gratefully those who fed him, and sometimes would stop for a little and sing to them.
1	Idiot	idiot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
2	though	though	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	unhappy	unhappy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	13	advmod	_	_
13	thanked	thank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	conj	_	_
14	gratefully	gratefully	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	13	obl	_	_
16	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
17	fed	feed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	_
18	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
21	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	23	advmod	_	_
22	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	stop	stop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
24	for	for	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	obl	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	sing	sing	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
29	to	to	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | Idiot though Peronnik |  |  |  |  | unhappy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **thank** *speech: thank* | participle | Idiot though Peronnik *not said here* | those |  |  |  | always *property* | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **feed** | past |  |  | Peronnik |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 4 | **stop** | would |  |  |  |  |  | for a little; sometimes *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 5 | **sing** *speech: express* | infinitive |  |  | holes *= hole* |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to they=Recipient |

<!-- .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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