--- title: But the creatures ran off a second time before I could seize them, w… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: But the creatures ran off a second time before I could seize them, whereupon there was a great shout, and in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles. Who acts: creatures, I, left hand. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew La --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/30/) [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/) / 30 # The Blue Fairy Book, Chapter I, sentence 30 But the creatures ran off a second time before I could seize them, whereupon there was a great shout, and in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles. **Who acts:** creatures, I, left hand · **What happens:** run off, seize, be, feel, discharge, prick · **To what, where:** strings, great shout, hundred arrows, left hand, me 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 (creatures, I, left hand), 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:pg503:43:30 # text = But the creatures ran off a second time before I could seize them, whereupon there was a great shout, and in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 creatures creature NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 4 ran run VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 off off ADP RP _ 4 compound:prt _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 second second ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 8 amod _ _ 8 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl:unmarked _ _ 9 before before SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 10 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 seize seize VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 13 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 15 whereupon whereupon ADV WRB PronType=Int 17 advmod _ _ 16 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 17 expl _ _ 17 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 cop _ _ 18 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 19 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 shout shout NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 23 in in ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 instant instant NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 26 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 felt feel VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 28 above above ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 hundred hundred NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 31 nummod _ _ 31 arrows arrow NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 obl _ _ 32 discharged discharge VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 31 acl _ _ 33 on on ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 34 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 36 nmod:poss _ _ 35 left left ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 amod _ _ 36 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 38 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 39 nsubj _ _ 39 pricked prick VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 acl:relcl _ _ 40 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 39 obj _ _ 41 like like ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 42 so so ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ _ 43 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 needles needle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **run off** | past | the creatures | | | | time | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **seize** | could | I | strings *= string* | | | | | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 3 | **is a** | past | | a great shout | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **feel** | past | I | | | | | above hundred arrows; in a instant | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Theme in instant=Attribute | | 5 | **discharge** | participle | | hundred arrows *not said here* | | my left hand | | | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **prick** | past | my left hand | me | | | | like many needles | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=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 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/29/) - next →: [sentence 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/31/) - ↑ back to [Chapter I](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/43/)