---
title: This trifling sum was enough to make his mother and himself subsist… — Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth · tree and pragmatics
description: This trifling sum was enough to make his mother and himself subsist tolerably: there was a time when they would have desired no more to be happy; but it was not considerable enough to change their fortune: it is always dangerous for the imagination to be fixed upon the idea of riches. Who acts: trif
---

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# Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth, Ingratitude Punished., sentence 27

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This trifling sum was enough to make his mother and himself subsist tolerably: there was a time when they would have desired no more to be happy; but it was not considerable enough to change their fortune: it is always dangerous for the imagination to be fixed upon the idea of riches.

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**Who acts:** trifling sum, Abdallah, time, sum · **What happens:** be, make, subsist, desire, not be, change · **To what, where:** mother, Dervises, fortune

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This is a sentence of «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by Anonymous, Ingratitude Punished.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (trifling sum, Abdallah, time, sum), 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:pg62868:22:27
# text = This trifling sum was enough to make his mother and himself subsist tolerably: there was a time when they would have desired no more to be happy; but it was not considerable enough to change their fortune: it is always dangerous for the imagination to be fixed upon the idea of riches.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	trifling	trifling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	enough	enough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	nsubj	_	_
12	subsist	subsist	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
13	tolerably	tolerably	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
15	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	16	expl	_	_
16	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
19	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	23	advmod	_	_
20	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
21	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	aux	_	_
23	desired	desire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	acl:relcl	_	_
24	no	no	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	23	obj	_	_
26	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	cop	_	_
28	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
30	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
31	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	cop	_	_
33	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
34	considerable	considerable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
35	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	37	mark	_	_
37	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	advcl	_	_
38	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	39	nmod:poss	_	_
39	fortune	fortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	44	punct	_	_
41	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
42	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	44	cop	_	_
43	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	44	advmod	_	_
44	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
45	for	for	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	imagination	imagination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obl	_	_
48	to	to	PART	TO	_	50	mark	_	_
49	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	aux:pass	_	_
50	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	47	acl	_	_
51	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obl	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	riches	rich	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | this trifling sum |  |  |  |  | enough *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | this trifling sum *not said here* | Abdallah's mother |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset mother=Product |
| 3 | **subsist** | present | Abdallah |  |  |  |  | tolerably *property* | vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **be** | past | a time |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **desire** | would · perfect · passive |  | Dervises *= dervis* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **not** **is** | past | sum |  |  |  |  | considerable, enough *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **change** | to-infinitive | sum *not said here* | Dervises's fortune |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fortune=Patient |
| 9 | **is** | present | sum |  |  |  |  | for the imagination; always, dangerous *property* | tree rules |
| 10 | **fix** | to-infinitive · passive | sum *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon the idea of riches | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle» |

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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:** «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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