--- title: “Why is it, then, master of the house, when I slipped off the sleepi… — Russian Folk-Tales · tree and pragmatics description: “Why is it, then, master of the house, when I slipped off the sleeping shelf that there were newts running on the floor; and, when I wanted to drink at the table, I saw frogs leaping about and croaking?” Who acts: old man, newts, frogs. A sentence of «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Opening, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/18/130/) [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/) / [Russian Folk-Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/) / [Opening, part 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/18/) / 130 # Russian Folk-Tales, Opening, part 18, sentence 130 “Why is it, then, master of the house, when I slipped off the sleeping shelf that there were newts running on the floor; and, when I wanted to drink at the table, I saw frogs leaping about and croaking?” **Who acts:** old man, newts, frogs · **What happens:** be, slip off, run, want, drink, see · **To what, where:** youth, sleeping shelf, floor, table, frogs This is a sentence of «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Opening, part 18. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (old man, newts, frogs), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg62509:18:130 # text = “Why is it, then, master of the house, when I slipped off the sleeping shelf that there were newts running on the floor; and, when I wanted to drink at the table, I saw frogs leaping about and croaking?” 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 4 advmod _ _ 3 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 4 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 6 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 8 master master NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 appos _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 13 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 15 advmod _ _ 14 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 15 slipped slip VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 parataxis _ _ 16 off off ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 18 sleeping sleeping NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 compound _ _ 19 shelf shelf NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 obl _ _ 20 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 22 obj _ _ 21 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 22 expl _ _ 22 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 acl:relcl _ _ 23 newts newt NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 nsubj _ _ 24 running run VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 23 acl _ _ 25 on on ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 floor floor NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ; ; PUNCT : _ 41 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 31 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 33 advmod _ _ 32 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 advcl _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 drink drink VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 36 at at ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 table table NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 40 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 41 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 conj _ _ 42 frogs frog NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 obj _ _ 43 leaping leap VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 42 acl _ _ 44 about about ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ _ 45 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 46 croaking croak VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 43 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ? ? PUNCT . _ 46 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 48 ” " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | | youth | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **slip off** *in a quote* | past | the old man *= man* | the sleeping shelf | | | | | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent shelf=Patient | | 3 | **run** *in a quote* | gerund | newts *not said here* | | | the floor | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on floor=Trajectory | | 4 | **want** *in a quote* | past | the old man *= man* | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 5 | **drink** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | the old man *= man* *not said here* | | | the table | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **see** *in a quote* | past | the old man *= man* | frogs | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer frog=Stimulus | | 7 | **leap** *in a quote* | gerund | frogs *not said here* | | | | | about *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **croak** *in a quote* | gerund | frogs *not said here* | | | | | | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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:** «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Project Gutenberg book 62509 (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 129](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/18/129/) - next →: [sentence 131](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/18/131/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/18/)