---
title: The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never told… — The Violet Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never told anyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of listening, only drew his sword from its sheath, which so frightened the poor fellow that he confessed exactly what he had done, and how he had whispered the truth three times 
---

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# The Violet Fairy Book, The Goat’s Ears of the Emperor Trojan, sentence 24

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The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never told anyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of listening, only drew his sword from its sheath, which so frightened the poor fellow that he confessed exactly what he had done, and how he had whispered the truth three times to the earth, and how in that very place an elder tree had sprung up, and flutes had been cut from it, which would only repeat the words he had said.

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**Who acts:** culprit, tree · **What happens:** try, defend, say, not tell, notice, listen · **To what, where:** emperor, culprit, anyone, sword, sheath, poor fellow · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Violet Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Goat’s Ears of the Emperor Trojan. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (culprit, tree), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg641:6:24
# text = The culprit tried to defend himself by saying that he had never told anyone what he had noticed; but the emperor, instead of listening, only drew his sword from its sheath, which so frightened the poor fellow that he confessed exactly what he had done, and how he had whispered the truth three times to the earth, and how in that very place an elder tree had sprung up, and flutes had been cut from it, which would only repeat the words he had said.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	culprit	culprit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	defend	defend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obj	_	_
7	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	ccomp	_	_
14	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	13	iobj	_	_
15	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	18	obj	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	noticed	notice	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	emperor	emperor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	26	mark	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	fixed	_	_
26	listening	listen	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
28	only	only	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
29	drew	draw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	advcl	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
32	from	from	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	34	nmod:poss	_	_
34	sheath	sheath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
36	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	38	obj	_	_
37	so	so	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	acl:relcl	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	fellow	fellow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
42	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	44	mark	_	_
43	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
44	confessed	confess	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	acl	_	_
45	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
46	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	44	obj	_	_
47	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	49	nsubj	_	_
48	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	49	aux	_	_
49	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	46	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	55	punct	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
52	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	55	advmod	_	_
53	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
54	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	whispered	whisper	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
56	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
57	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obj	_	_
58	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	59	nummod	_	_
59	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	obl:unmarked	_	_
60	to	to	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	62	det	_	_
62	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	74	punct	_	_
64	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	74	cc	_	_
65	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	74	advmod	_	_
66	in	in	ADP	IN	_	69	case	_	_
67	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	69	det	_	_
68	very	very	ADV	RB	_	69	advmod	_	_
69	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	74	obl	_	_
70	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	72	det	_	_
71	elder	elder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	72	compound	_	_
72	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	74	nsubj:pass	_	_
73	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	74	aux	_	_
74	sprung	spring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
75	up	up	ADP	RP	_	74	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
76	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	81	punct	_	_
77	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	81	cc	_	_
78	flutes	flute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	81	nsubj:pass	_	_
79	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	81	aux	_	_
80	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	81	aux:pass	_	_
81	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	74	parataxis	_	_
82	from	from	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
83	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	81	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
84	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	88	punct	_	_
85	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	88	nsubj	_	_
86	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	88	aux	_	_
87	only	only	ADV	RB	_	88	advmod	_	_
88	repeat	repeat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	81	conj	_	_
89	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	90	det	_	_
90	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	88	obj	_	_
91	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	93	nsubj	_	_
92	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	93	aux	_	_
93	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	90	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
94	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the culprit | the emperor |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **defend** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the culprit *not said here* | culprit |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the culprit *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | culprit |  | anyone |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent anyone=Recipient |
| 5 | **notice** | past · perfect | culprit |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 6 | **listen** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **draw** | past |  | culprit's sword |  | sword's sheath |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent sword=Theme from sheath=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **frighten** | past |  | sword's sheath |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Stimulus which=Experiencer fellow=Result |
| 9 | **confess** | past | culprit | the poor fellow |  |  |  |  | vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 10 | **do** | past · perfect | culprit |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 11 | **whisper** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | culprit | the truth | the earth |  | time |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent truth=Topic to earth=Recipient |
| 12 | **spring up** | past · perfect · passive |  | a elder tree |  | that place |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 13 | **cut** | past · perfect · passive |  | flutes |  | sword |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V PP»: subject=Product from it=Material |
| 14 | **repeat** | would |  | the words |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Eventuality |
| 15 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | tree | the words *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |

<!-- .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:** «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.

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