--- title: The Queen was very much vexed by this accident, but she soon selecte… — The Red Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The Queen was very much vexed by this accident, but she soon selected another, who was just stepping forward when an eagle flew by and dropped a large tortoise upon her head, which was cracked in pieces like an egg-shell. Who acts: accident, Queen, eagle. A sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/3/9/) [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 Red Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/) / [The Princess Mayblossom, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/3/) / 9 # The Red Fairy Book, The Princess Mayblossom, part 1, sentence 9 The Queen was very much vexed by this accident, but she soon selected another, who was just stepping forward when an eagle flew by and dropped a large tortoise upon her head, which was cracked in pieces like an egg-shell. **Who acts:** accident, Queen, eagle · **What happens:** vex, select, step forward, fly by, drop, crack · **To what, where:** Queen, another, large tortoise, head, pieces This is a sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Princess Mayblossom, 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 (accident, Queen, eagle), 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:pg540:3:9 # text = The Queen was very much vexed by this accident, but she soon selected another, who was just stepping forward when an eagle flew by and dropped a large tortoise upon her head, which was cracked in pieces like an egg-shell. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Queen Queen PROPN NNP Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux:pass _ _ 4 very very ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 much much ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 vexed vex VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 7 by by ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 9 det _ _ 9 accident accident NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 11 but but CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 12 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 13 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 14 advmod _ _ 14 selected select VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 15 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 14 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 17 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 20 nsubj _ _ 18 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 19 just just ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 20 stepping step VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 14 advcl _ _ 21 forward forward ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 22 when when SCONJ WRB _ 25 mark _ _ 23 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 eagle eagle NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 nsubj _ _ 25 flew fly VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 advcl _ _ 26 by by ADP IN _ 25 obl _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 dropped drop VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 30 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 tortoise tortoise NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ _ 32 upon upon ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nmod:poss _ _ 34 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 36 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 38 nsubj:pass _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 aux:pass _ _ 38 cracked crack VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 31 acl _ _ 39 in in ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 pieces piece NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 obl _ _ 41 like like ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 42 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 43 egg egg NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 44 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 shell shell NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **vex** | past · passive | this accident | the Queen | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer | | 2 | **select** | past | Queen | another | | | | soon *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent another=Theme | | 3 | **step forward** | past · progressive | | | | | | forward *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **fly by** | past | a eagle | | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **drop** | past | a eagle *not said here* | a large tortoise | | Queen's head | | | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent tortoise=Theme upon head=Destination | | 6 | **crack** | past · passive | | a large tortoise | | pieces like a egg shell | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/3/8/) - next →: [sentence 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/3/10/) - ↑ back to [The Princess Mayblossom, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/3/)