---
title: The weasel possessed very sharp teeth, and he was to gnaw the meshes… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics
description: The weasel possessed very sharp teeth, and he was to gnaw the meshes of the net in which the goat was confined, and so set him at liberty. Who acts: weasel, goat. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 21, with its dependency tree an
---

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# The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 21, sentence 119

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The weasel possessed very sharp teeth, and he was to gnaw the meshes of the net in which the goat was confined, and so set him at liberty.

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**Who acts:** weasel, goat · **What happens:** possess, be, confine, set · **To what, where:** sharp teeth, goat, net, liberty, weasel

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This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 21. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (weasel, goat), 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:pg65965:21:120
# text = The weasel possessed very sharp teeth, and he was to gnaw the meshes of the net in which the goat was confined, and so set him at liberty.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	weasel	weasel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	possessed	possess	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	gnaw	gnaw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	meshes	mesh	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	net	net	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	23	obl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	so	so	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	set	set	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
28	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obj	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	liberty	liberty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | participle | the weasel *not said here* | sharp teeth |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot tooth=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | goat |  |  |  |  | the meshes of the net *obj*; gnaw *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **confine** | past · passive |  | the goat |  | the net |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in which=Destination |
| 4 | **set** | infinitive | goat *not said here* | goat |  | liberty |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme at liberty=Destination |

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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:** «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.

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