---
title: In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to remain… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to remain underground, for they can’t work their way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the ground, they break through and come up above to spy the land and steal what they can; what once falls into their hands and into the
---

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# The Blue Fairy Book, Snow-white and Rose-red, sentence 37

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to remain underground, for they can’t work their way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the ground, they break through and come up above to spy the land and steal what they can; what once falls into their hands and into their caves is not easily brought back to light.”

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**Who acts:** dwarfs · **What happens:** freeze, oblige, remain, not work, thaw, warm · **To what, where:** earth, dwarfs, way, sun, ground, land

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Snow-white and Rose-red. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (dwarfs), 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:pg503:36:37
# text = In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to remain underground, for they can’t work their way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the ground, they break through and come up above to spy the land and steal what they can; what once falls into their hands and into their caves is not easily brought back to light.”
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	underground	underground	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
20	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	n’t	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
22	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	conj	_	_
23	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
25	through	through	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
28	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	34	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
30	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	34	mark	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
34	thawed	thaw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	70	advcl	_	_
35	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
36	warmed	warm	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	conj	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
40	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
41	break	break	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	parataxis	_	_
42	through	through	ADP	RP	_	41	compound:prt	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
44	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	41	conj	_	_
45	up	up	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
46	above	above	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
47	to	to	PART	TO	_	48	mark	_	_
48	spy	spy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	advcl	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obj	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
52	steal	steal	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	48	conj	_	_
53	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	52	obj	_	_
54	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
55	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	53	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
57	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	59	obj	_	_
58	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	59	advmod	_	_
59	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	conj	_	_
60	into	into	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	62	nmod:poss	_	_
62	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	obl	_	_
63	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	66	cc	_	_
64	into	into	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	66	nmod:poss	_	_
66	caves	cave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	62	conj	_	_
67	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	70	aux:pass	_	_
68	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	70	advmod	_	_
69	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	70	advmod	_	_
70	brought	bring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	parataxis	_	_
71	back	back	ADV	RB	_	70	advmod	_	_
72	to	to	ADP	IN	_	73	case	_	_
73	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	70	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
74	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
75	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | present · passive |  | the earth |  |  | winter | hard *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 2 | **oblige** | present · passive |  | dwarfs *= dwarf* |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 3 | **remain** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | underground *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **work** | can | dwarfs *= dwarf* | dwarfs's way |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **thaw** | present · perfect · passive |  | the sun |  |  | now |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 6 | **warm** | past |  | the ground |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent ground=Patient |
| 7 | **break through** | present | dwarfs *= dwarf* |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 8 | **come up** | present | dwarfs *= dwarf* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | above *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **spy** | to-infinitive | dwarfs *= dwarf* *not said here* | the land |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer land=Stimulus |
| 10 | **steal** | present | dwarfs *= dwarf* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location what=Theme |
| 11 | **fall** | present |  |  |  | dwarfs's hands and dwarfs's caves |  | once *property* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient what=Result |
| 12 | **not** **bring back** | present · passive |  |  |  | light |  | easily *property* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: to light=Destination |

<!-- .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 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.

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