--- title: I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite aga… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my nurse to take my awa --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/4/23/) [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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/4/) / 23 # The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 4, sentence 23 I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my nurse to take my away from the palace. **Who acts:** I, wicked fairy, king, nurse · **What happens:** be, cast, bend, wrinkle, look, make · **To what, where:** spell, back, skin, me, nurse This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, wicked fairy, king, nurse), 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:pg3454:4:23 # text = I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my nurse to take my away from the palace. 1 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 cop _ _ 3 only only ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 months month NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 obl:unmarked _ _ 7 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 8 when when SCONJ WRB _ 21 mark _ _ 9 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 10 wicked wicked ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 amod _ _ 11 fairy fairy NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 13 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 14 nsubj _ _ 14 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 15 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 spite spite NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obj _ _ 17 against against ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 parents parent NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 21 cast cast VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 advcl _ _ 22 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 spell spell NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 24 over over ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 bending bend VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ _ 28 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 29 nmod:poss _ _ 29 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obj _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 wrinkling wrinkle VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 conj _ _ 32 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 33 nmod:poss _ _ 33 skin skin NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ _ 34 till till SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 35 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 advcl _ _ 37 as as SCONJ IN _ 44 mark _ _ 38 if if SCONJ IN _ 44 mark _ _ 39 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 40 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 cop _ _ 41 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 hundred hundred NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 43 nummod _ _ 43 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 44 obl:unmarked _ _ 44 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 47 making make VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 51 csubj _ _ 48 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 47 obj _ _ 49 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 51 det:predet _ _ 50 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 object object NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 conj _ _ 52 of of ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 53 disgust disgust NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 nmod _ _ 54 to to ADP IN _ 55 case _ _ 55 everyone everyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Tot 51 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 59 punct _ _ 57 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 59 det _ _ 58 at at ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 59 length length NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 appos _ _ 60 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 61 det _ _ 61 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 nsubj _ _ 62 ordered order VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 59 acl:relcl _ _ 63 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 64 nmod:poss _ _ 64 nurse nurse NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ _ 65 to to PART TO _ 66 mark _ _ 66 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 62 xcomp _ _ 67 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 68 nmod:poss _ _ 68 away away ADV RB _ 66 compound:prt _ _ 69 from from ADP IN _ 71 case _ _ 70 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 71 det _ _ 71 palace palace NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 72 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | I | | | | month | old *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **cast** | past | a wicked fairy | a spell | | | | over me | vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent spell=Theme over i=Destination | | 3 | **bend** | gerund | a wicked fairy *not said here* | my back | | | | | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent back=Material | | 4 | **wrinkle** | gerund | a wicked fairy *not said here* | my skin | | | | | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent skin=Patient | | 5 | **look** | past | I | | | | | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 6 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | I | | | | year | old *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **make** | gerund | | me | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset i=Product | | 8 | **order** | past | the king | my nurse | | | | | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent nurse=Recipient clause=Topic | | 9 | **take away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | my nurse *not said here* | | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | 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 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/4/22/) - next →: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/4/24/) - ↑ back to [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/4/)