--- title: ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘and it is the solemn truth, that I would rat… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge it. Who acts: I, company, number, prince. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by And --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/3/49/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Lilac Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/) / [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/3/) / 49 # The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 3, sentence 49 ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge it. **Who acts:** I, company, number, prince · **What happens:** tell, say, be, know, suffer, attempt · **To what, where:** you, solemn truth, I, me, only son, injury · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, company, number, prince), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **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:pg3454:3:49 # text = ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge it. 1 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 tell tell VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 ccomp _ _ 4 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 3 iobj _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 3 punct _ _ 7 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 10 ‘ ‘ PUNCT : _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 12 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 13 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 16 cop _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 15 solemn solemn ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 truth truth NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 18 that that SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 19 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 20 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 24 aux _ _ 21 rather rather ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ _ 22 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj:pass _ _ 23 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 aux _ _ 24 told tell VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 16 conj _ _ 25 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 24 iobj _ _ 26 that that SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 prince prince NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 nsubj _ _ 29 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 cop _ _ 30 dead dead ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 32 though though SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 33 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 34 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 37 cop _ _ 35 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 36 only only ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 amod _ _ 37 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 39 than than SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 40 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 conj _ _ 41 that that SCONJ IN _ 44 mark _ _ 42 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 43 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 44 aux _ _ 44 suffer suffer VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 40 ccomp _ _ 45 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 47 det:predet _ _ 46 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 injury injury NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 48 without without SCONJ IN _ 49 mark _ _ 49 attempting attempt VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 44 advcl _ _ 50 to to PART TO _ 51 mark _ _ 51 avenge avenge VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 49 xcomp _ _ 52 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | I | | you | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | company | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **is a** | present | number | the solemn truth and my only son | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | would · perfect · passive | | I | me | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient i=Topic | | 5 | **is** | past | the prince | | | | | dead *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **is a** | present | company | my only son | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **know** | infinitive | number *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 8 | **suffer** | would | company | such injury | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer injury=Stimulus | | 9 | **attempt** | gerund | company *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 10 | **avenge** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | company *not said here* | injury | | | | | tree rules | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 48](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/3/48/) - next →: [sentence 50](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/3/50/) - ↑ back to [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/3/)