---
title: ‘Here, then, my dear child,’ said the witch, ‘take this thread, but… — The Red Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: ‘Here, then, my dear child,’ said the witch, ‘take this thread, but do not let him know about it, for if he did it would lose its healing power. Who acts: teller, thread. A sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Enchanted Pig, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause
---

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# The Red Fairy Book, The Enchanted Pig, sentence 102

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
‘Here, then, my dear child,’ said the witch, ‘take this thread, but do not let him know about it, for if he did it would lose its healing power.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** teller, thread · **What happens:** say, take, not let, know, do, lose · **To what, where:** witch, thread, teller, healing power · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Enchanted Pig. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (teller, thread), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg540:12:102
# text = ‘Here, then, my dear child,’ said the witch, ‘take this thread, but do not let him know about it, for if he did it would lose its healing power.
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	dear	dear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
11	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
17	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	det	_	_
18	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
21	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
23	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	conj	_	_
24	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obj	_	_
25	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	xcomp	_	_
26	about	about	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
30	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	advcl	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
34	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	xcomp	_	_
36	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
37	healing	healing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	compound	_	_
38	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past |  | the witch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take** | infinitive |  | this thread |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thread=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **let** | infinitive · do-support |  | teller |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** | infinitive | teller *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about thread | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about it=Stimulus |
| 5 | **do** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | teller |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **lose** | would | thread | thread's healing power |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent power=Eventuality |

<!-- .note -->
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.

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**Text:** «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 540 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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