--- title: At first they said they could do nothing for him and told him to go… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: At first they said they could do nothing for him and told him to go away and not disturb them; but Wang Chih would not go, and they found the only way to get rid of him was to give him some really good advice. Who acts: they, Wang Chih, only way, some. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories fro --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/23/1/) [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 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/23/) / 1 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 23, sentence 1 At first they said they could do nothing for him and told him to go away and not disturb them; but Wang Chih would not go, and they found the only way to get rid of him was to give him some really good advice. **Who acts:** they, Wang Chih, only way, some · **What happens:** say, do, tell, go away, not disturb, not go · **To what, where:** nothing, him, them, Chih · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 23. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (they, Wang Chih, only way, some), 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:pg65965:23:1 # text = At first they said they could do nothing for him and told him to go away and not disturb them; but Wang Chih would not go, and they found the only way to get rid of him was to give him some really good advice. 1 At at ADP IN _ 2 case _ _ 2 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 4 obl _ _ 3 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 ccomp _ _ 8 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 7 obj _ _ 9 for for ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obl _ _ 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 12 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 13 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 iobj _ _ 14 to to PART TO _ 15 mark _ _ 15 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 xcomp _ _ 16 away away ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 18 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 19 disturb disturb VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 conj _ _ 20 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 22 but but CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 23 Wang Wang PROPN NNP Number=Sing 24 compound _ _ 24 Chih Chih PROPN NNP Number=Sing 27 nsubj _ _ 25 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 27 aux _ _ 26 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 27 advmod _ _ 27 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 30 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 33 only only ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 amod _ _ 34 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 nsubj _ _ 35 to to PART TO _ 36 mark _ _ 36 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 acl _ _ 37 rid rid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 xcomp _ _ 38 of of ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 obl _ _ 40 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 ccomp _ _ 43 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 iobj _ _ 44 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 47 nsubj _ _ 45 really really ADV RB _ 46 advmod _ _ 46 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 advice advice NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | they | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **do** | could | they | nothing | | | | for him *= he* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Eventuality | | 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | they *not said here* | | him *= he* | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 4 | **go away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | they *not said here* | | | | | away *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **not** **disturb** | infinitive | they *not said here* | them *= they* | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer | | 6 | **not** **go** | would | Wang Chih | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **find** | past | they | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 8 | **get** | to-infinitive | the only way *not said here* | | | | | rid *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 9 | **give** | past | the only way | | Chih | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 10 | **advice** | | some | | | | | | tree rules | 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: [Opening, part 22, 109](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/22/109/) - next →: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/23/2/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/23/)