---
title: He was told by one, that there was no vacancy in his office; by anot… — Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth · tree and pragmatics
description: He was told by one, that there was no vacancy in his office; by another, that his merit was above any patronage but that of the emperor; by a third, that he would not forget him; and by the chief vizier, that he did not think, literature of any great use in public business. Who acts: vacancy, merit,
---

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# Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth, The Story of Gelaleddin of Bassora., sentence 23

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He was told by one, that there was no vacancy in his office; by another, that his merit was above any patronage but that of the emperor; by a third, that he would not forget him; and by the chief vizier, that he did not think, literature of any great use in public business.

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**Who acts:** vacancy, merit, service · **What happens:** tell, be, not forget, not think · **To what, where:** service, patronage, merit · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by Anonymous, The Story of Gelaleddin of Bassora.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (vacancy, merit, service), 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:pg62868:14:23
# text = He was told by one, that there was no vacancy in his office; by another, that his merit was above any patronage but that of the emperor; by a third, that he would not forget him; and by the chief vizier, that he did not think, literature of any great use in public business.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	9	expl	_	_
9	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	vacancy	vacancy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	office	office	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	merit	merit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
23	above	above	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	25	det	_	_
25	patronage	patronage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	nmod	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	emperor	emperor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
32	by	by	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	third	third	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
36	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
37	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
38	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
39	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	40	advmod	_	_
40	forget	forget	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	conj	_	_
41	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	47	cc	_	_
44	by	by	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
46	chief	chief	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
47	vizier	vizier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
49	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
50	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
51	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
52	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	53	advmod	_	_
53	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	55	punct	_	_
55	literature	literature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	_
56	of	of	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
57	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	59	det	_	_
58	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	nmod	_	_
60	in	in	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	62	amod	_	_
62	business	business	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | service |  |  |  | by one; a third and the chief vizier and literature of any great use in public business *parataxis* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **be** | past | no vacancy in service's office |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | past | service's merit |  |  | any patronage |  | that of the emperor *nmod* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **forget** | would | service | merit |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **think** *speech: other* | past · do-support | service |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:** «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by Anonymous, Project Gutenberg book 62868 (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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