---
title: When the ravens had thus conversed they fled onward, but Trusty John… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: When the ravens had thus conversed they fled onward, but Trusty John had taken it all in, and was sad and depressed from that time forward; for if he were silent to his master concerning what he had heard, he would involve him in misfortune; but if he took him into his confidence, then he himself wo
---

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# The Blue Fairy Book, Trusty John, sentence 80

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When the ravens had thus conversed they fled onward, but Trusty John had taken it all in, and was sad and depressed from that time forward; for if he were silent to his master concerning what he had heard, he would involve him in misfortune; but if he took him into his confidence, then he himself would forfeit his life.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ravens, Trusty, master, dance · **What happens:** converse, flee, take, be, concern, hear · **To what, where:** ravens, shirt, dance, misfortune, Trusty, confidence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Trusty John. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ravens, Trusty, master, dance), 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:pg503:41:80
# text = When the ravens had thus conversed they fled onward, but Trusty John had taken it all in, and was sad and depressed from that time forward; for if he were silent to his master concerning what he had heard, he would involve him in misfortune; but if he took him into his confidence, then he himself would forfeit his life.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	ravens	raven	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	conversed	converse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	fled	flee	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	onward	onward	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	Trusty	Trusty	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	John	John	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	flat	_	_
14	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	det	_	_
18	in	in	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
22	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
24	depressed	depressed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	conj	_	_
25	from	from	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	27	det	_	_
27	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
28	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
30	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
31	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
32	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
33	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	cop	_	_
34	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
37	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
38	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	37	acl	_	_
39	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	42	obj	_	_
40	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
41	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
42	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	38	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
44	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
45	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
46	involve	involve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	ccomp	_	_
47	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	obj	_	_
48	in	in	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
49	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
51	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
52	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	54	mark	_	_
53	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	nsubj	_	_
54	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
55	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	obj	_	_
56	into	into	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	58	nmod:poss	_	_
58	confidence	confidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	64	punct	_	_
60	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	64	advmod	_	_
61	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	64	nsubj	_	_
62	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	61	nmod:unmarked	_	_
63	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	64	aux	_	_
64	forfeit	forfeit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	parataxis	_	_
65	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	66	nmod:poss	_	_
66	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	64	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **converse** *speech: other* | past · perfect · passive |  | the ravens |  |  |  | thus *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **flee** | past | ravens *= raven* |  |  |  |  | onward *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **take** | past · perfect | Trusty | shirt |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | past | ravens *= raven* *not said here* |  |  |  | time | forward, sad *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** |  | ravens *= raven* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Trusty |  |  |  |  | to Trusty's master; silent *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **concern** | gerund | Trusty's master *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **hear** | past · perfect | Trusty |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **involve** | would | Trusty | dance |  |  |  | in misfortune *goal* | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent he=Theme in misfortune=Goal |
| 10 | **take** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | dance | Trusty |  | dance's confidence |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme into confidence=Destination |
| 11 | **forfeit** | would | dance | dance's life |  |  | then |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent life=Theme |
| 12 | **confide** |  | dance |  |  |  |  |  | nom confidence «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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