--- title: Scarcely had he lain down than the mosquitos began to buzz about and… — The Pink Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Scarcely had he lain down than the mosquitos began to buzz about and bite him, and he rolled from side to side trying to catch them, which he never could do, though they always seemed to be close to his nose. Who acts: Scarcely, mosquitos. A sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/38/34/) [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 Pink Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/) / [The Pink Fairy Book, part 38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/38/) / 34 # The Pink Fairy Book, The Pink Fairy Book, part 38, sentence 34 Scarcely had he lain down than the mosquitos began to buzz about and bite him, and he rolled from side to side trying to catch them, which he never could do, though they always seemed to be close to his nose. **Who acts:** Scarcely, mosquitos · **What happens:** lie down, begin, buzz about, bite, roll, try · **To what, where:** Scarcely, side, mosquitos This is a sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, part 38. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Scarcely, mosquitos), 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:pg5615:38:34 # text = Scarcely had he lain down than the mosquitos began to buzz about and bite him, and he rolled from side to side trying to catch them, which he never could do, though they always seemed to be close to his nose. 1 Scarcely Scarcely PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 2 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 lain lie VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 5 down down ADP RP _ 4 compound:prt _ _ 6 than than SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 mosquitos mosquito NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nsubj _ _ 9 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 advcl _ _ 10 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 11 buzz buzz VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 xcomp _ _ 12 about about ADV RB _ 11 advmod _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 bite bite VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 11 conj _ _ 15 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 18 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 rolled roll VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 20 from from ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 side side NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ _ 22 to to ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 side side NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ _ 24 trying try VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 19 advcl _ _ 25 to to PART TO _ 26 mark _ _ 26 catch catch VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 24 xcomp _ _ 27 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 29 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 33 obj _ _ 30 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 31 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 33 advmod _ _ 32 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 35 though though SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 36 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj _ _ 37 always always ADV RB PronType=Tot 38 advmod _ _ 38 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 conj _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 40 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 41 cop _ _ 41 close close ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 xcomp _ _ 42 to to ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 44 nose nose NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **lie down** | past · perfect | Scarcely | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **begin** | past | the mosquitos | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **buzz about** | to-infinitive | the mosquitos *not said here* | | | | | about *property* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **bite** | present | the mosquitos *not said here* | Scarcely | | | | | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient | | 5 | **roll** | past | Scarcely | | | side | | to side | vn slide-11.2-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from side=Initial\_Location to side=Destination | | 6 | **try** | gerund | Scarcely *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 7 | **catch** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Scarcely *not said here* | mosquitos *= mosquito* | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 8 | **not** **do** | could | Scarcely | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=Eventuality | | 9 | **seem** | past | mosquitos *= mosquito* | | | | | always *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme | | 10 | **is** | to-infinitive | mosquitos *= mosquito* *not said here* | | | | | to Scarcely's nose; close *property* | tree rules | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/38/33/) - next →: [sentence 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/38/35/) - ↑ back to [The Pink Fairy Book, part 38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg5615/38/)