--- title: “Then,” said the Spirit Lady, “if you will cut off the head of your… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: “Then,” said the Spirit Lady, “if you will cut off the head of your firstborn son, who has on his body the marks of greatness, and offer his head as a sacrifice to the all-helpful Goddess Durga, then shall I continue to be the guardian angel of the Rajah, even though he should live another hundred y --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/2/59/) [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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/2/) / 59 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 2, sentence 59 “Then,” said the Spirit Lady, “if you will cut off the head of your firstborn son, who has on his body the marks of greatness, and offer his head as a sacrifice to the all-helpful Goddess Durga, then shall I continue to be the guardian angel of the Rajah, even though he should live another hundred years.” **Who acts:** Spirit Lady, you, firstborn son, guard · **What happens:** say, cut off, have, offer, continue, be · **To what, where:** head, body, helpful Goddess Durga, guardian angel, greatness · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Spirit Lady, you, firstborn son, guard), 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:pg65965:2:60 # text = “Then,” said the Spirit Lady, “if you will cut off the head of your firstborn son, who has on his body the marks of greatness, and offer his head as a sacrifice to the all-helpful Goddess Durga, then shall I continue to be the guardian angel of the Rajah, even though he should live another hundred years.” 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 4 ” " PUNCT '' _ 5 punct _ _ 5 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 Spirit Spirit PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 compound _ _ 8 Lady Lady PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 10 “ " PUNCT `` _ 14 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 if if SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 12 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 13 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 14 aux _ _ 14 cut cut VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 15 off off ADP RP _ 14 compound:prt _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 17 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obj _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 19 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 21 nmod:poss _ _ 20 firstborn firstborn ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 amod _ _ 21 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 23 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 24 nsubj _ _ 24 has have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 21 acl:relcl _ _ 25 on on ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 body body NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 marks mark NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 nmod _ _ 30 of of ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 greatness greatness NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 34 offer offer VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 conj _ _ 35 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 36 nmod:poss _ _ 36 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obj _ _ 37 as as ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 38 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 39 sacrifice sacrifice NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ _ 40 to to ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 42 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 46 det _ SpaceAfter=No 43 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 42 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 44 helpful helpful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 amod _ _ 45 Goddess Goddess PROPN NNP Number=Sing 46 compound _ _ 46 Durga Durga PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 48 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 51 advmod _ _ 49 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 51 aux _ _ 50 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 51 continue continue VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 conj _ _ 52 to to PART TO _ 56 mark _ _ 53 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 56 cop _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 56 det _ _ 55 guardian guardian ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 56 amod _ _ 56 angel angel NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 ccomp _ _ 57 of of ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 58 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 59 det _ _ 59 Rajah Rajah PROPN NNP Number=Sing 56 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 61 even even ADV RB _ 65 advmod _ _ 62 though though SCONJ IN _ 65 mark _ _ 63 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 65 nsubj _ _ 64 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 65 aux _ _ 65 live live VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 conj _ _ 66 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 67 det _ _ 67 hundred hundred NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 68 nummod _ _ 68 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 65 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 69 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 70 ” " PUNCT '' _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the Spirit Lady | | | | then | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **cut off** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | future | you | the head of your firstborn son | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector head=Eventuality | | 3 | **have** *in a quote* | present | your firstborn son | | | guard's body the marks of greatness | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **offer** *in a quote* | infinitive | you *not said here* | guard's head | the helpful Goddess Durga | | | as a sacrifice | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent head=Theme to durga=Goal | | 5 | **continue** *in a quote* | shall | the Spirit Lady *= lady* | | | | then | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | the Spirit Lady *= lady* *not said here* | the guardian angel | | | | of the Rajah | tree rules | | 7 | **live** *in a quote* | should | guard | | | | year | | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **mark** *in a quote* | | | greatness | | | | | nom mark «cognition transitive»: of=patient | 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 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/2/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/2/60/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/2/)