--- title: As he spoke, some men who were standing by began to laugh, saying to… — The Violet Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: As he spoke, some men who were standing by began to laugh, saying to the man with the cage: ‘You had better take care how you bargain with him, for he has nothing at all except what he picks up from a dust-heap, and if he can’t feed himself, will he be able to feed a gazelle?’ Who acts: man, men, Yo --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/15/10/) [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/) / [The Violet Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/) / [The Story of a Gazelle](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/15/) / 10 # The Violet Fairy Book, The Story of a Gazelle, sentence 10 As he spoke, some men who were standing by began to laugh, saying to the man with the cage: ‘You had better take care how you bargain with him, for he has nothing at all except what he picks up from a dust-heap, and if he can’t feed himself, will he be able to feed a gazelle?’ **Who acts:** man, men, You · **What happens:** speak, stand, begin, laugh, say, have · **To what, where:** man, better take care, nothing, all, dust heap, gazelle · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Story of a Gazelle. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, men, You), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg641:15:10 # text = As he spoke, some men who were standing by began to laugh, saying to the man with the cage: ‘You had better take care how you bargain with him, for he has nothing at all except what he picks up from a dust-heap, and if he can’t feed himself, will he be able to feed a gazelle?’ 1 As as SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 spoke speak VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 5 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 6 det _ _ 6 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nsubj _ _ 7 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 9 nsubj _ _ 8 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 aux _ _ 9 standing stand VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 10 by by SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 11 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 advcl _ _ 12 to to PART TO _ 13 mark _ _ 13 laugh laugh VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 11 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 15 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 13 conj _ _ 16 to to ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 obl _ _ 19 with with ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 cage cage NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 : : PUNCT : _ 25 punct _ _ 23 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 25 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 You you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 26 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 28 amod _ _ 27 take take NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 compound _ _ 28 care care NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ _ 29 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 31 advmod _ _ 30 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 bargain bargain VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 25 advcl _ _ 32 with with ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 33 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 35 for for SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 36 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 has have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 31 conj _ _ 38 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 37 obj _ _ 39 at at ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 38 nmod _ _ 41 except except ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 what what PRON WP PronType=Rel 38 nmod _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 44 picks pick VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 42 acl:relcl _ _ 45 up up ADP RP _ 44 compound:prt _ _ 46 from from ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 47 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 48 dust dust NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 49 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 48 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 50 heap heap NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 51 , , PUNCT , _ 63 punct _ _ 52 and and CCONJ CC _ 63 cc _ _ 53 if if SCONJ IN _ 57 mark _ _ 54 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 57 nsubj _ _ 55 ca can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 56 n’t not PART RB Polarity=Neg 57 advmod _ _ 57 feed feed VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 63 advcl _ _ 58 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 57 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 60 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 63 aux _ _ 61 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 63 nsubj _ _ 62 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 63 cop _ _ 63 able able ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 conj _ _ 64 to to PART TO _ 65 mark _ _ 65 feed feed VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 63 xcomp _ _ 66 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 67 det _ _ 67 gazelle gazelle NOUN NN Number=Sing 65 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 68 ? ? PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 69 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | man | | | | | | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **stand** | past · progressive | some men | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **begin** | past | some men *not said here* | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 4 | **laugh** | to-infinitive | some men *not said here* | | | | | | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | some men *not said here* | | the man with the cage | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to man=Recipient | | 6 | **have** | past | You | better take care | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent care=Patient | | 7 | **bargain** | present | you | | | | | with man | vn battle-36.4 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with he=Co-Agent | | 8 | **have** | present | man | nothing | | all | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Patient | | 9 | **pick up** | present | man | | | a dust heap | | | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.source how S»: agent=Agent from heap=Source | | 10 | **not** **feed** *a condition, not said to happen* | can | man | man | | | | | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Recipient | | 11 | **is** | future | man | | | | | able *property* | tree rules | | 12 | **feed** | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | | a gazelle | | | | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gazelle=Recipient | 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:** «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 641 (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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/15/9/) - next →: [sentence 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/15/11/) - ↑ back to [The Story of a Gazelle](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg641/15/)