--- title: Once upon a time there was a merchant who had three daughters: it so… — Russian Folk-Tales · tree and pragmatics description: Once upon a time there was a merchant who had three daughters: it so happened he had one day to go to strange countries to buy wares, and so he asked his daughters, “What shall I bring you from beyond the seas?” Who acts: merchant, it. 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/pg62509/33/124/) [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 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/33/) / 124 # Russian Folk-Tales, Opening, part 33, sentence 124 Once upon a time there was a merchant who had three daughters: it so happened he had one day to go to strange countries to buy wares, and so he asked his daughters, “What shall I bring you from beyond the seas?” **Who acts:** merchant, it · **What happens:** be, have, happen, go, buy, ask · **To what, where:** three daughters, strange countries, wares, daughters, seas · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev, Opening, part 33. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (merchant, it), 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:pg62509:33:124 # text = Once upon a time there was a merchant who had three daughters: it so happened he had one day to go to strange countries to buy wares, and so he asked his daughters, “What shall I bring you from beyond the seas?” 1 Once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 6 advmod _ _ 2 upon upon ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obl _ _ 5 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 6 expl _ _ 6 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 merchant merchant NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 9 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 10 nsubj _ _ 10 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 acl:relcl _ _ 11 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 12 nummod _ _ 12 daughters daughter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 : : PUNCT : _ 16 punct _ _ 14 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 so so ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ _ 16 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 parataxis _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 18 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 parataxis _ _ 19 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 20 nummod _ _ 20 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ _ 21 to to PART TO _ 22 mark _ _ 22 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 20 acl _ _ 23 to to ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 strange strange ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 amod _ _ 25 countries country NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obl _ _ 26 to to PART TO _ 27 mark _ _ 27 buy buy VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 advcl _ _ 28 wares ware NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 31 so so ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 conj _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 daughters daughter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 37 “ " PUNCT `` _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 38 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 41 obj _ _ 39 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 41 aux _ _ 40 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 41 bring bring VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 ccomp _ _ 42 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 41 obj _ _ 43 from from ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 44 beyond beyond ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 seas sea NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ? ? PUNCT . _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 48 ” " PUNCT '' _ 41 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **be** | past | a merchant | | | there | | once *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **have** | past | a merchant | three daughters | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Patient | | 3 | **happen** | past | it | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **have** | past | merchant | | | | day | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **go** | to-infinitive | merchant *not said here* | | | strange countries | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to country=Initial\_Location | | 6 | **buy** | to-infinitive | merchant *not said here* | wares | | | | | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ware=Theme | | 7 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | merchant | | merchant's daughters | | | | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP that S»: agent=Agent daughter=Recipient clause=Topic | | 8 | **bring** *in a quote* | shall | merchant | | merchant's daughters *= daughter* | the seas | | What *obj* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument what=Theme you=Destination | 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 123](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/33/123/) - next →: [sentence 125](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/33/125/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/33/)