---
title: The first and the second nights it was the men of my own house that… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The first and the second nights it was the men of my own house that destroyed thy two fields, but on the third night my wife and her ladies came to me and begged me to change them also into the shape of mice, that they might take part in avenging Gwawl. Who acts: second nights, own house, wife, mice
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 35, sentence 140

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The first and the second nights it was the men of my own house that destroyed thy two fields, but on the third night my wife and her ladies came to me and begged me to change them also into the shape of mice, that they might take part in avenging Gwawl.

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**Who acts:** second nights, own house, wife, mice · **What happens:** be, destroy, come, beg, change, take · **To what, where:** two fields, me, fields, shape, part, Gwawl

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 35. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (second nights, own house, wife, mice), 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:pg3454:35:140
# text = The first and the second nights it was the men of my own house that destroyed thy two fields, but on the third night my wife and her ladies came to me and begged me to change them also into the shape of mice, that they might take part in avenging Gwawl.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	nights	night	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
13	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	destroyed	destroy	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	19	nummod	_	_
19	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
21	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	25	amod	_	_
25	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
26	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	ladies	lady	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	conj	_	_
31	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	parataxis	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	obl	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	begged	beg	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	conj	_	_
36	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	obj	_	_
37	to	to	PART	TO	_	38	mark	_	_
38	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	xcomp	_	_
39	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	_
40	also	also	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
41	into	into	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
44	of	of	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	43	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
47	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	50	mark	_	_
48	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	nsubj	_	_
49	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	50	aux	_	_
50	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	conj	_	_
51	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obj	_	_
52	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
53	avenging	avenge	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	50	advcl	_	_
54	Gwawl	Gwawl	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	53	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the second nights |  |  |  |  | of my own house | tree rules |
| 2 | **destroy** | past | my own house | thy two fields |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent field=Patient |
| 3 | **come** | past | my wife and wife's ladies |  | me |  | night |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to i=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | my wife and wife's ladies *not said here* |  | me |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **change** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | my wife and wife's ladies *not said here* | fields *= field* |  |  |  | into the shape of mice *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: agent=Agent they=Patient into shape=Result |
| 6 | **take** | might | mice *= mouse* | part |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent part=Theme |
| 7 | **avenge** | gerund | mice *= mouse* *not said here* | Gwawl |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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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