--- title: The Wolf began to run as fast as he could, taking the nearest way, a… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The Wolf began to run as fast as he could, taking the nearest way, and the little girl went by that farthest about, diverting herself in gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and making nosegays of such little flowers as she met with. Who acts: Wolf, little girl. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy B --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/9/15/) [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/) / [Little Red Riding Hood](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/9/) / 15 # The Blue Fairy Book, Little Red Riding Hood, sentence 15 The Wolf began to run as fast as he could, taking the nearest way, and the little girl went by that farthest about, diverting herself in gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and making nosegays of such little flowers as she met with. **Who acts:** Wolf, little girl · **What happens:** begin, run, take, go, divert, gather · **To what, where:** nearest way, Wolf, gathering nuts, nosegays This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Little Red Riding Hood. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Wolf, little girl), 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:pg503:9:15 # text = The Wolf began to run as fast as he could, taking the nearest way, and the little girl went by that farthest about, diverting herself in gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and making nosegays of such little flowers as she met with. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Wolf Wolf PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 to to PART TO _ 5 mark _ _ 5 run run VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 xcomp _ _ 6 as as ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 7 fast fast ADV RB Degree=Pos 5 advmod _ _ 8 as as SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 10 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 12 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 5 advcl _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 14 nearest near ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 15 amod _ _ 15 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 19 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 girl girl NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 nsubj _ _ 21 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 22 by by ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 21 obl _ _ 24 farthest far ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 23 acl _ _ 25 about about ADV RB _ 21 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 diverting divert VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ _ 28 herself herself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 27 obj _ _ 29 in in ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 gathering gather VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 31 amod _ _ 31 nuts nut NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 33 running run VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 conj _ _ 34 after after ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 35 butterflies butterfly NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 making make VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 conj _ _ 39 nosegays nosegay NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 obj _ _ 40 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 41 such such ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 42 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 43 flowers flower NOUN NNS Number=Plur 39 nmod _ _ 44 as as SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 45 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 met meet VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 advcl _ _ 47 with with ADP IN _ 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **begin** | past | the Wolf | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **run** | to-infinitive | the Wolf *not said here* | | | | | fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **take** | gerund | the Wolf *not said here* | the nearest way | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Theme | | 4 | **go** | past | the little girl | | | | | by that; about *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by that=Location | | 5 | **divert** | gerund | the little girl *not said here* | Wolf | | gathering nuts | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus herself=Experiencer | | 6 | **gather** | gerund | | | | | | | vn herd-47.5.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **run** | gerund | the little girl *not said here* | | | | after butterflies | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **make** | gerund | the little girl *not said here* | nosegays of such little flowers | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset nosegay=Product | | 9 | **meet** | past | Wolf | | | | | | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=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 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/9/14/) - next →: [sentence 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/9/16/) - ↑ back to [Little Red Riding Hood](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/9/)