--- title: But I plainly protested that I would never be the means of bringing… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: But I plainly protested that I would never be the means of bringing a free and brave people into slavery; and though the wisest of the Ministers were of my opinion, my open refusal was so opposed to his Majesty’s ambition that he could never forgive me. Who acts: I, open refusal, Majesty, my. A sent --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/28/) [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 IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/) / 28 # The Blue Fairy Book, Chapter IV, sentence 28 But I plainly protested that I would never be the means of bringing a free and brave people into slavery; and though the wisest of the Ministers were of my opinion, my open refusal was so opposed to his Majesty’s ambition that he could never forgive me. **Who acts:** I, open refusal, Majesty, my, Emperor · **What happens:** protest, not be, bring, be, not forgive, refuse · **To what, where:** free people, slavery, me · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Chapter IV. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, open refusal, Majesty, my), 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:pg503:46:28 # text = But I plainly protested that I would never be the means of bringing a free and brave people into slavery; and though the wisest of the Ministers were of my opinion, my open refusal was so opposed to his Majesty’s ambition that he could never forgive me. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 plainly plainly ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 protested protest VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 that that SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 6 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 7 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 8 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 9 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 11 cop _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 nsubj _ _ 11 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 ccomp _ _ 12 of of SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 13 bringing bring VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 11 advcl _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 15 free free ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 17 brave brave ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 conj _ _ 18 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obj _ _ 19 into into ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 slavery slavery NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 23 though though SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 wisest wise ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 32 amod _ _ 26 of of ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 Ministers Minister PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 32 obl _ _ 29 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 cop _ _ 30 of of ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 32 opinion opinion NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 34 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 36 nmod:poss _ _ 35 open open ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 amod _ _ 36 refusal refusal NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 cop _ _ 38 so so ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 opposed opposed ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 conj _ _ 40 to to ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 41 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 42 Majesty Majesty PROPN NNP Number=Sing 44 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 43 ’s 's PART POS _ 42 case _ _ 44 ambition ambition NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 45 that that SCONJ IN _ 49 mark _ _ 46 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 47 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 49 aux _ _ 48 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 49 advmod _ _ 49 forgive forgive VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 44 acl _ _ 50 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 49 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **protest** *speech: disagree* | past | I | | | | | plainly *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **not** **is** | would | I | | | | | mean *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **bring** | gerund | I *not said here* | a free people | | slavery | | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent people=Theme into slavery=Destination | | 4 | **is** | past | | | | | | of my wisest opinion; of the Ministers | tree rules | | 5 | **is** | past | my open refusal | | | | | to Emperor's ambition; opposed *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **not** **forgive** | could | Majesty | me | | | | | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme | | 7 | **refuse** | | my | | | | | | nom refusal «communication transitive»: poss=agent | | 8 | **ambition** | | Emperor | | | | | | nom ambition «feeling intransitive»: poss=agent | 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 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/27/) - next →: [sentence 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/29/) - ↑ back to [Chapter IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/46/)