--- title: Nevertheless, as he was in no hurry to part with his crown, he told… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Nevertheless, as he was in no hurry to part with his crown, he told his sons that, as they had been so successful the first time, he would ask them to go once again, and seek by land and sea for a piece of muslin so fine that it could be drawn through the eye of a needle. Who acts: king, sons. A sen --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/85/) [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 Blue Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/) / [The White Cat, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/) / 85 # The Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 1, sentence 85 Nevertheless, as he was in no hurry to part with his crown, he told his sons that, as they had been so successful the first time, he would ask them to go once again, and seek by land and sea for a piece of muslin so fine that it could be drawn through the eye of a needle. **Who acts:** king, sons · **What happens:** be, tell, ask, go, seek, draw · **To what, where:** hurry, sons, kingdom, eye · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The White Cat, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (king, sons), 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:pg503:23:85 # text = Nevertheless, as he was in no hurry to part with his crown, he told his sons that, as they had been so successful the first time, he would ask them to go once again, and seek by land and sea for a piece of muslin so fine that it could be drawn through the eye of a needle. 1 Nevertheless nevertheless ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 as as SCONJ IN _ 8 mark _ _ 4 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 6 in in ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 8 det _ _ 8 hurry hurry NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 advcl _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 part part NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 advcl _ _ 11 with with ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 crown crown NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 17 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 18 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 iobj _ _ 19 that that ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 21 as as SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 22 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 23 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 24 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 26 cop _ _ 25 so so ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 26 successful successful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 conj _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 28 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 29 amod _ _ 29 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 31 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 ask ask VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 parataxis _ _ 34 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 iobj _ _ 35 to to PART TO _ 36 mark _ _ 36 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 37 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 36 advmod _ _ 38 again again ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 41 seek seek VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 conj _ _ 42 by by ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 land land NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 45 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 conj _ _ 46 for for ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ _ 49 of of ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 50 muslin muslin NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 nmod _ _ 51 so so ADV RB _ 52 advmod _ _ 52 fine fine ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 conj _ _ 53 that that SCONJ IN _ 57 mark _ _ 54 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 57 nsubj:pass _ _ 55 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ _ 56 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 57 aux:pass _ _ 57 drawn draw VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 52 advcl _ _ 58 through through ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 59 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 60 det _ _ 60 eye eye NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 obl _ _ 61 of of ADP IN _ 63 case _ _ 62 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 63 det _ _ 63 needle needle NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 64 . . PUNCT . _ 16 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | king | | | no hurry | | | tree rules | | 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | king | | king's sons | | | nevertheless, that *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient | | 3 | **is** | past · perfect | sons *= son* | | | | time | successful *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | would | king | | sons *= son* | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic | | 5 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | king *not said here* | | | | again | once *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **seek** | infinitive | king *not said here* | | | | | by land and sea; for a piece of muslin | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent by land=Location for piece=Theme | | 7 | **draw** | could · passive | | kingdom | | the eye of a needle | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 8 | **crown** | | king | | | | | | nom crown «communication transitive»: poss=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 Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 503 (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 84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/84/) - next →: [sentence 86](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/86/) - ↑ back to [The White Cat, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/)