--- title: And indeed the stuff was very fine, and would go through the eye of… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: And indeed the stuff was very fine, and would go through the eye of a very large needle; but the King, who was only too glad to make a difficulty, sent for a particular needle, which was kept among the Crown jewels, and had such a small eye that everybody saw at once that it was impossible that the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/21/) [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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/) / 21 # The Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 2, sentence 21 And indeed the stuff was very fine, and would go through the eye of a very large needle; but the King, who was only too glad to make a difficulty, sent for a particular needle, which was kept among the Crown jewels, and had such a small eye that everybody saw at once that it was impossible that the muslin should pass through it. **Who acts:** stuff, King, everybody, muslin · **What happens:** be, go, make, send, keep, have · **To what, where:** eye, difficulty, particular needle, Crown jewels, small eye, stuff This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The White Cat, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (stuff, King, everybody, muslin), 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:pg503:24:21 # text = And indeed the stuff was very fine, and would go through the eye of a very large needle; but the King, who was only too glad to make a difficulty, sent for a particular needle, which was kept among the Crown jewels, and had such a small eye that everybody saw at once that it was impossible that the muslin should pass through it. 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 2 indeed indeed ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 stuff stuff NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 cop _ _ 6 very very ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 7 fine fine ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 10 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 11 go go VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 7 parataxis _ _ 12 through through ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 eye eye NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ _ 15 of of ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 16 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 17 very very ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 18 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 amod _ _ 19 needle needle NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 20 ; ; PUNCT : _ 23 punct _ _ 21 but but CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 7 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 25 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 29 nsubj _ _ 26 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 cop _ _ 27 only only ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 28 too too ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 29 glad glad ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 parataxis _ _ 30 to to PART TO _ 31 mark _ _ 31 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 advcl _ _ 32 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 33 difficulty difficulty NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 35 sent send VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 33 acl _ _ 36 for for ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 38 particular particular ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 amod _ _ 39 needle needle NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 41 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 43 nsubj:pass _ _ 42 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 aux:pass _ _ 43 kept keep VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 39 acl:relcl _ _ 44 among among ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 46 Crown Crown PROPN NNP Number=Sing 47 compound _ _ 47 jewels jewel NOUN NNS Number=Plur 43 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 49 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 50 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 acl:relcl _ _ 51 such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 54 det:predet _ _ 52 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 53 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 amod _ _ 54 eye eye NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obj _ _ 55 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 57 obj _ _ 56 everybody everybody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Tot 57 nsubj _ _ 57 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 acl:relcl _ _ 58 at at ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 59 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 57 obl _ _ 60 that that SCONJ IN _ 63 mark _ _ 61 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 63 expl _ _ 62 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 cop _ _ 63 impossible impossible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 conj _ _ 64 that that SCONJ IN _ 68 mark _ _ 65 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 66 det _ _ 66 muslin muslin NOUN NN Number=Sing 68 nsubj _ _ 67 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 68 aux _ _ 68 pass pass VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 63 ccomp _ _ 69 through through ADP IN _ 70 case _ _ 70 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 68 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 71 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | the stuff | | | | | fine, indeed *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **go** | would | | | | the eye of a large needle | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through eye=Initial\_Location | | 3 | **is** | past | the King | | | | | glad *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **make** | to-infinitive | the King *not said here* | a difficulty | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset difficulty=Product | | 5 | **send** | participle | | a difficulty *not said here* | | | | for a particular needle | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **keep** | past · passive | | a particular needle | | the Crown jewels | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme among jewel=Location | | 7 | **have** | past | the King *not said here* | such small eye | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Patient | | 8 | **see** | past | everybody | such small eye | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer that=Stimulus | | 9 | **is** | past | everybody *not said here* | | | | | impossible *property* | tree rules | | 10 | **pass** | should | the muslin | | | stuff | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme through it=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 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 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/20/) - next →: [sentence 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/22/) - ↑ back to [The White Cat, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/)