---
title: The messenger took back this answer, but a second time returned with… — The Pink Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The messenger took back this answer, but a second time returned with the request that Don Giovanni would present them with his picture, so that they might know what sort of a person to expect. Who acts: messenger, Don, ears. A sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, pa
---

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# The Pink Fairy Book, The Pink Fairy Book, part 39, sentence 54

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The messenger took back this answer, but a second time returned with the request that Don Giovanni would present them with his picture, so that they might know what sort of a person to expect.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** messenger, Don, ears · **What happens:** take back, return, present, know, expect, sort · **To what, where:** answer, request, sort, person

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Pink Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Pink Fairy Book, part 39. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (messenger, Don, ears), 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:pg5615:39:54
# text = The messenger took back this answer, but a second time returned with the request that Don Giovanni would present them with his picture, so that they might know what sort of a person to expect.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	amod	_	_
11	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
12	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	obj	_	_
17	Don	Don	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
18	Giovanni	Giovanni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	flat	_	_
19	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	present	present	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	acl:relcl	_	_
21	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	with	with	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
26	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	30	mark	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	26	fixed	_	_
28	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
31	what	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	32	det	_	_
32	sort	sort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obj	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	37	mark	_	_
37	expect	expect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take back** | past | the messenger | this answer |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Theme |
| 2 | **return** | participle |  |  |  |  | time | with the request | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **present** | would | Don | the request |  |  |  | with messenger's picture | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** | might | ears *= ear* | what sort of a person |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer sort=Stimulus |
| 5 | **expect** | to-infinitive | ears *= ear* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **sort** |  |  | a person |  |  |  |  | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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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