---
title: So the father called his sons, and said to them, ‘ My dear boys, I a… — The Pink Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: So the father called his sons, and said to them, ‘ My dear boys, I am too old to work any more, and there is nothing left for me but to beg in the streets.’ Who acts: father, dear boys, nothing. A sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, part 37, with its dependency tre
---

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# The Pink Fairy Book, The Pink Fairy Book, part 37, sentence 6

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So the father called his sons, and said to them, ‘ My dear boys, I am too old to work any more, and there is nothing left for me but to beg in the streets.’

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** father, dear boys, nothing · **What happens:** call, say, be, work, leave, beg · **To what, where:** sons, streets · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, part 37. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (father, dear boys, nothing), 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:pg5615:37:6
# text = So the father called his sons, and said to them, ‘ My dear boys, I am too old to work any more, and there is nothing left for me but to beg in the streets.’
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
13	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	_
14	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
15	dear	dear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	too	too	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	ccomp	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	advcl	_	_
24	any	any	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	29	expl	_	_
29	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
30	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	29	nsubj	_	_
31	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	acl	_	_
32	for	for	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	obl	_	_
34	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	beg	beg	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	conj	_	_
37	in	in	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	streets	street	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	29	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past | the father |  | father's sons |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the father *not said here* |  | sons *= son* |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to they=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** | present | My dear boys |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **work** | to-infinitive | My dear boys *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **be** | present | nothing |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **leave** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | for me | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for i=Recipient |
| 7 | **beg** *speech: request* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the streets |  |  | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 5615 (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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