--- title: The Prince called to the crier, and asked to see the tapestry, which… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The Prince called to the crier, and asked to see the tapestry, which seemed to him to be valued at an exorbitant price, not only for the size of it, but the meanness of the stuff; when he had examined it well, he told the crier that he could not comprehend how so small a piece of tapestry, and of so --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/49/23/) [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 Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fair…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/49/) / 23 # The Blue Fairy Book, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, part 1, sentence 23 The Prince called to the crier, and asked to see the tapestry, which seemed to him to be valued at an exorbitant price, not only for the size of it, but the meanness of the stuff; when he had examined it well, he told the crier that he could not comprehend how so small a piece of tapestry, and of so indifferent appearance, could be set at so high a price. **Who acts:** Prince, tapestry, air · **What happens:** call, ask, see, seem, value, examine · **To what, where:** Prince, crier, tapestry, air, exorbitant price, meanness · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Prince, tapestry, air), 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:pg503:49:23 # text = The Prince called to the crier, and asked to see the tapestry, which seemed to him to be valued at an exorbitant price, not only for the size of it, but the meanness of the stuff; when he had examined it well, he told the crier that he could not comprehend how so small a piece of tapestry, and of so indifferent appearance, could be set at so high a price. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 9 nsubj _ _ 3 called call VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 acl _ _ 4 to to ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 crier crier NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 9 cc _ _ 9 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 10 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 11 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 xcomp _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 tapestry tapestry NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 15 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 16 nsubj _ _ 16 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 acl:relcl _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 obl _ _ 19 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 20 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 21 aux:pass _ _ 21 valued value VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 16 xcomp _ _ 22 at at ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 23 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 24 exorbitant exorbitant ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 amod _ _ 25 price price NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 27 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 31 advmod _ _ 28 only only ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ _ 29 for for ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 size size NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 appos _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 33 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 35 but but CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 meanness meanness NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 nsubj:pass _ _ 38 of of ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 stuff stuff NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ; ; PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 42 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 45 advmod _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 44 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 45 examined examine VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 9 conj _ _ 46 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 obj _ _ 47 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 45 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 49 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 50 nsubj _ _ 50 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 conj _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 crier crier NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 iobj _ _ 53 that that SCONJ IN _ 57 mark _ _ 54 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 57 nsubj _ _ 55 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ _ 56 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 57 advmod _ _ 57 comprehend comprehend VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 50 ccomp _ _ 58 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 60 advmod _ _ 59 so so ADV RB _ 60 advmod _ _ 60 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 ccomp _ _ 61 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 62 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 nsubj _ _ 63 of of ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 64 tapestry tapestry NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 65 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ _ 66 and and CCONJ CC _ 74 cc _ _ 67 of of ADP IN _ 70 case _ _ 68 so so ADV RB _ 69 advmod _ _ 69 indifferent indifferent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 70 amod _ _ 70 appearance appearance NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 71 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 72 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 74 aux _ _ 73 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 74 aux:pass _ _ 74 set set VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 9 ccomp _ _ 75 at at ADP IN _ 77 case _ _ 76 so so ADV RB _ 77 advmod _ _ 77 high high ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 74 conj _ _ 78 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 79 det _ _ 79 price price NOUN NN Number=Sing 77 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 80 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **call** | participle | | the Prince *not said here* | the crier | | | | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to crier=Recipient | | 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the Prince | | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the Prince *not said here* | the tapestry | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer tapestry=Stimulus | | 4 | **seem** | past | the tapestry | | air | | | | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute | | 5 | **value** | to-infinitive · passive | the tapestry *not said here* | | | a exorbitant price | | | vn price-54.4 «NP V NP PP.value»: at price=Value | | 6 | **examine** | past · perfect · passive | | the meanness of the stuff | | | | well *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP.attribute»: subject=Theme it=Attribute | | 7 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | air | | the crier | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent crier=Recipient clause=Topic | | 8 | **not** **comprehend** | could | air | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 9 | **set** | could · passive | | | | | | of indifferent appearance | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V» | 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 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/49/22/) - next →: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/49/24/) - ↑ back to [The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/49/)