---
title: Sometimes the earth seemed to open in front of them and he was looki… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Sometimes the earth seemed to open in front of them and he was looking into a bottomless pit; sometimes the trees burst into flames and he found himself in the midst of a fire; often in the act of crossing a stream the water rose and threatened to sweep him away; and again, at the foot of a mountain
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 27, sentence 15

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sometimes the earth seemed to open in front of them and he was looking into a bottomless pit; sometimes the trees burst into flames and he found himself in the midst of a fire; often in the act of crossing a stream the water rose and threatened to sweep him away; and again, at the foot of a mountain, great rocks would roll towards him, as if they would crush him and his colt beneath their weight.

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**Who acts:** earth, trees, act, water, great rocks, rocks · **What happens:** seem, open, look, burst, find, cross · **To what, where:** front, flames, earth, midst, stream

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 27. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (earth, trees, act, water), 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:pg3454:27:15
# text = Sometimes the earth seemed to open in front of them and he was looking into a bottomless pit; sometimes the trees burst into flames and he found himself in the midst of a fire; often in the act of crossing a stream the water rose and threatened to sweep him away; and again, at the foot of a mountain, great rocks would roll towards him, as if they would crush him and his colt beneath their weight.
1	Sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	open	open	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
15	into	into	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	bottomless	bottomless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	pit	pit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
20	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	23	advmod	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	nsubj	_	_
23	burst	burst	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
24	into	into	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	flames	flame	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
29	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	28	obj	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	midst	midst	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
37	often	often	ADV	RB	_	40	advmod	_	_
38	in	in	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	act	act	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
41	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
42	crossing	cross	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	40	acl	_	_
43	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obj	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	nsubj	_	_
47	rose	rise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	44	acl:relcl	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
49	threatened	threaten	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	conj	_	_
50	to	to	PART	TO	_	51	mark	_	_
51	sweep	sweep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	49	xcomp	_	_
52	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	51	obj	_	_
53	away	away	ADV	RB	_	51	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	56	punct	_	_
55	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
56	again	again	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
58	at	at	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
59	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	60	det	_	_
60	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
61	of	of	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	63	det	_	_
63	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
65	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	66	amod	_	_
66	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	68	nsubj	_	_
67	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	68	aux	_	_
68	roll	roll	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	conj	_	_
69	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	70	case	_	_
70	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	68	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	76	punct	_	_
72	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	76	mark	_	_
73	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	76	mark	_	_
74	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	76	nsubj	_	_
75	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	76	aux	_	_
76	crush	crush	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	68	conj	_	_
77	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	76	obj	_	_
78	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	80	cc	_	_
79	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	80	nmod:poss	_	_
80	colt	colt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	77	conj	_	_
81	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
82	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	83	nmod:poss	_	_
83	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	76	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
84	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | past | the earth |  |  |  |  | sometimes *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **open** | to-infinitive | the earth *not said here* |  |  | front of sights |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in front=Location |
| 3 | **look** | past · progressive | earth |  |  |  |  | into a bottomless pit | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent into pit=Theme |
| 4 | **burst** | past | the trees |  |  | flames | again | in the act; at the foot of a mountain; sometimes *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in act=Location |
| 5 | **find** | past | earth | earth |  | the midst of a fire |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Topic |
| 6 | **cross** | gerund | the act *not said here* | a stream |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stream=Patient |
| 7 | **rise** | past | the water | a stream *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location stream=Theme |
| 8 | **threaten** | past | the water *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **sweep away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the water *not said here* | earth |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location he=Theme |
| 10 | **roll** | would | great rocks |  |  |  |  | towards earth | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme towards he=Destination |
| 11 | **crush** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | rocks *= rock* | earth |  |  |  | beneath sights's weight | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

<!-- .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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