--- title: Then Sin asked why a fish should enjoy the water more than a man, an… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: Then Sin asked why a fish should enjoy the water more than a man, and the fish replied that a man would like to swim and dive for a little while, but his ugly limbs, which made him look like a frog, would soon tire. Who acts: Sin, fish, man, ugly limbs. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories fr --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/7/) [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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/) / [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/) / 7 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 16, sentence 7 Then Sin asked why a fish should enjoy the water more than a man, and the fish replied that a man would like to swim and dive for a little while, but his ugly limbs, which made him look like a frog, would soon tire. **Who acts:** Sin, fish, man, ugly limbs · **What happens:** ask, enjoy, reply, like, swim, dive · **To what, where:** water, ugly limbs · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Sin, fish, man, ugly limbs), 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:pg65965:16:7 # text = Then Sin asked why a fish should enjoy the water more than a man, and the fish replied that a man would like to swim and dive for a little while, but his ugly limbs, which made him look like a frog, would soon tire. 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 3 advmod _ _ 2 Sin Sin PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 8 advmod _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 fish fish NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 7 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 enjoy enjoy VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 11 more more ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 8 obj _ _ 12 than than ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 fish fish NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nsubj _ _ 19 replied reply VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 20 that that SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 21 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nsubj _ _ 23 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 24 aux _ _ 24 like like VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 ccomp _ _ 25 to to PART TO _ 26 mark _ _ 26 swim swim VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 24 xcomp _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 dive dive VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 29 for for ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 30 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 31 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 while while NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 34 but but CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 35 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 36 ugly ugly ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 amod _ _ 37 limbs limb NOUN NNS Number=Plur 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 39 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 40 nsubj _ _ 40 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 41 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 look look VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 40 xcomp _ _ 43 like like ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 frog frog NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 47 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 49 aux _ _ 48 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 49 advmod _ _ 49 tire tire VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 42 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Sin | | | | then | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **enjoy** | should | a fish | the water | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the fish | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 4 | **like** | would | a man | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 5 | **swim** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a man *not said here* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **dive** | infinitive | a man *not said here* | | | | while | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | | 7 | **make** | past | | man's ugly limbs | | | | which *nsubj*; man *obj* | tree rules | | 8 | **look** | infinitive | man's ugly limbs *not said here* | | | | | like a frog | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 9 | **tire** | would | man's ugly limbs *not said here* | | | | | soon *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | 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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Project Gutenberg book 65965 (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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/6/) - next →: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/8/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/)