--- title: It took a long while, for the donkey was so fat with eating she coul… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: It took a long while, for the donkey was so fat with eating she could only walk very slowly, and the hare, who could have run the distance in about five minutes, was obliged to creep along till she almost dropped with fatigue at not being able to go at her own pace. Who acts: It, donkey, hare. A sen --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/6/13/) [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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/6/) / 13 # The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 6, sentence 13 It took a long while, for the donkey was so fat with eating she could only walk very slowly, and the hare, who could have run the distance in about five minutes, was obliged to creep along till she almost dropped with fatigue at not being able to go at her own pace. **Who acts:** It, donkey, hare · **What happens:** take, be, eat, walk, run, oblige · **To what, where:** distance, hare This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, donkey, hare), 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:pg3454:6:13 # text = It took a long while, for the donkey was so fat with eating she could only walk very slowly, and the hare, who could have run the distance in about five minutes, was obliged to creep along till she almost dropped with fatigue at not being able to go at her own pace. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 while while NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 7 for for SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 donkey donkey NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 10 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 cop _ _ 11 so so ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 12 fat fat ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 conj _ _ 13 with with SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 14 eating eat VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 12 advcl _ _ 15 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 16 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 18 aux _ _ 17 only only ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 18 walk walk VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 ccomp _ _ 19 very very ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 20 slowly slowly ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 26 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 29 nsubj _ _ 27 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 28 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 29 aux _ _ 29 run run VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 24 acl:relcl _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 distance distance NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obj _ _ 32 in in ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 33 about about ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 five five NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 35 nummod _ _ 35 minutes minute NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 aux:pass _ _ 38 obliged oblige VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 conj _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 40 creep creep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 xcomp _ _ 41 along along ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 42 till till SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 43 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 44 almost almost ADV RB _ 45 advmod _ _ 45 dropped drop VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 advcl _ _ 46 with with ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 47 fatigue fatigue NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 obl _ _ 48 at at ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 49 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 51 advmod _ _ 50 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 51 cop _ _ 51 able able ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 45 obl _ _ 52 to to PART TO _ 53 mark _ _ 53 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 51 xcomp _ _ 54 at at ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 55 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 57 nmod:poss _ _ 56 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 amod _ _ 57 pace pace NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 58 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past | It | | | | while | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is** | past | the donkey | | | | | fat *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **eat** | gerund | the donkey *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **walk** | could | donkey | | | | | slowly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **run** | could · perfect | the hare | the distance | | | minute | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme distance=Trajectory | | 6 | **oblige** | past · passive | | the hare | | | | | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result | | 7 | **creep** | to-infinitive | | | | | | along *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **drop** | past | donkey | | | | | with fatigue; almost *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **not** **is** | gerund | | | | | | able *property* | tree rules | | 10 | **go** | to-infinitive | | | | | | at donkey's own pace | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme at pace=Location | 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 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/6/12/) - next →: [sentence 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/6/14/) - ↑ back to [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/6/)