--- title: When the two brothers got to the glass hill, all the princes and kni… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: When the two brothers got to the glass hill, all the princes and knights were trying to ride up it, and their horses were in a foam; but it was all in vain, for no sooner did the horses set foot upon the hill than down they slipped, and there was not one which could get even so much as a couple of y --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/53/) [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/) / [The Princess on the Glass Hill](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/) / 53 # The Blue Fairy Book, The Princess on the Glass Hill, sentence 53 When the two brothers got to the glass hill, all the princes and knights were trying to ride up it, and their horses were in a foam; but it was all in vain, for no sooner did the horses set foot upon the hill than down they slipped, and there was not one which could get even so much as a couple of yards up. **Who acts:** two brothers, princes, horses, hill, one · **What happens:** get, try, ride up, be, do, set · **To what, where:** hill, foam, foot, much This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Princess on the Glass Hill. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (two brothers, princes, horses, hill), 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:pg503:48:53 # text = When the two brothers got to the glass hill, all the princes and knights were trying to ride up it, and their horses were in a foam; but it was all in vain, for no sooner did the horses set foot upon the hill than down they slipped, and there was not one which could get even so much as a couple of yards up. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 5 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 4 nummod _ _ 4 brothers brother NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 5 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 to to ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 glass glass NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 compound _ _ 9 hill hill NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 5 punct _ _ 11 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 13 det:predet _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 princes prince NOUN NNS Number=Plur 17 nsubj _ _ 14 and and CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 15 knights knight NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 conj _ _ 16 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 17 trying try VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 5 advcl _ _ 18 to to PART TO _ 19 mark _ _ 19 ride ride VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 xcomp _ _ 20 up up ADP RP _ 19 compound:prt _ _ 21 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 23 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 24 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 horses horse NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 nsubj _ _ 26 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 cop _ _ 27 in in ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 foam foam NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 30 ; ; PUNCT : _ 36 punct _ _ 31 but but CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 33 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 cop _ _ 34 all all ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 35 in in ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 vain vain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 38 for for SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 39 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 40 det _ _ 40 sooner soon ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 41 advmod _ _ 41 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 parataxis _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 horses horse NOUN NNS Number=Plur 44 nsubj _ _ 44 set set VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 advcl _ _ 45 foot foot NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 46 upon upon ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 hill hill NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ _ 49 than than SCONJ IN _ 52 mark _ _ 50 down down ADP IN _ 52 mark _ _ 51 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 52 nsubj _ _ 52 slipped slip VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 53 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 54 and and CCONJ CC _ 56 cc _ _ 55 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 56 expl _ _ 56 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 parataxis _ _ 57 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 58 advmod _ _ 58 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 61 nsubj _ _ 59 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 61 nsubj _ _ 60 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 61 aux _ _ 61 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 56 ccomp _ _ 62 even even ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ _ 63 so so ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ _ 64 much much ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 61 obj _ _ 65 as as ADP IN _ 67 case _ _ 66 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 67 det _ _ 67 couple couple NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 nmod _ _ 68 of of ADP IN _ 69 case _ _ 69 yards yards PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 67 nmod _ _ 70 up up ADP RP _ 64 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 71 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | past | the two brothers | | | | | to the glass hill *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to hill=Result | | 2 | **try** | past · progressive | all princes and knights | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **ride up** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | all princes and knights *not said here* | hill | | | | | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent it=Location | | 4 | **is** | past | princes's horses | | | a foam | | | tree rules | | 5 | **is** | past | hill | | | | | all, vain *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **do** | past | | | | | | soon *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **set** | past | the horses | foot | | the hill | | | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent foot=Theme upon hill=Destination | | 8 | **slip** | past | princes *= prince* | | | | | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | | 9 | **be** | past | | | | there | | | tree rules | | 10 | **get** | could | one | much | | | | as a couple of yards | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer much=Stimulus as couple=Attribute | 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 52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/52/) - next →: [sentence 54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/54/) - ↑ back to [The Princess on the Glass Hill](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/48/)