--- title: I attempted to rise, but could not; for as I happened to be lying on… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: I attempted to rise, but could not; for as I happened to be lying on my back, I found my arms and legs were fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. Who acts: I, hair. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Chapter I, with --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/21/) [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/) / [Chapter I](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/) / 21 # The Blue Fairy Book, Chapter I, sentence 21 I attempted to rise, but could not; for as I happened to be lying on my back, I found my arms and legs were fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. **Who acts:** I, hair · **What happens:** attempt, rise, happen, lie, find, fasten · **To what, where:** hair, back, arms, same manner · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Chapter I. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, hair), 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:pg503:43:21 # text = I attempted to rise, but could not; for as I happened to be lying on my back, I found my arms and legs were fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. 1 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 attempted attempt VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 4 rise rise VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 6 but but CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 7 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 8 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 7 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 ; ; PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 10 for for SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 11 as as SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 12 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 13 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 14 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 15 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 16 aux _ _ 16 lying lie VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 13 advcl _ _ 17 on on ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 parataxis _ _ 23 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 24 nmod:poss _ _ 24 arms arm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 nsubj:pass _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 conj _ _ 27 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 aux:pass _ _ 28 fastened fasten VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 22 ccomp _ _ 29 on on ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 each each DET DT PronType=Tot 31 det _ _ 31 side side NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ _ 32 to to ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 ; ; PUNCT : _ 38 punct _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 37 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 38 nmod:poss _ _ 38 hair hair NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 40 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 42 nsubj _ _ 41 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 cop _ _ 42 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 43 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 44 thick thick ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 42 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 46 tied tie VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 42 conj _ _ 47 down down ADP RP _ 46 compound:prt _ _ 48 in in ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 50 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 amod _ _ 51 manner manner NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **attempt** | past | I | my hair | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **rise** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **happen** | past | I | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **lie** | to-infinitive · progressive | I *not said here* | | | my back | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on back=Location | | 5 | **find** | past | I | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 6 | **fasten** | past · passive | | my arms and legs | | | | on each side to the ground | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: subject=Patient on side=Co-Patient | | 7 | **is** | past | my hair | | | | | long *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **be** | | my hair *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **tie down** | participle | my hair *not said here* | | | the same manner | | | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient | 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/pg503/43/20/) - next →: [sentence 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/22/) - ↑ back to [Chapter I](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/)