---
title: The old man replied: “Possible it is, but not easy; many go, but few… — Russian Folk-Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: The old man replied: “Possible it is, but not easy; many go, but few return.” Who acts: old man, BIRD, many, few. A sentence of «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Opening, part 32, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Russian Folk-Tales, Opening, part 32, sentence 87

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The old man replied: “Possible it is, but not easy; many go, but few return.”

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**Who acts:** old man, BIRD, many, few · **What happens:** reply, be, go, return · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Opening, part 32. 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, BIRD, many, few), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg62509:32:87
# text = The old man replied: “Possible it is, but not easy; many go, but few return.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	nsubj	_	_
16	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	nsubj	_	_
20	return	return	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | BIRD |  |  |  |  | possible *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **go** *in a quote* | present | many |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **return** *in a quote* | present | few |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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:** «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.

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