--- title: They besought the old man to intercede for them, but he answered tha… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: They besought the old man to intercede for them, but he answered that he was not her real father, and that he could not order her to obey him, and also that he would not ask her to do anything she did not wish to do. Who acts: knights, man, Princess. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/5/9/) [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 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/5/) / 9 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 5, sentence 9 They besought the old man to intercede for them, but he answered that he was not her real father, and that he could not order her to obey him, and also that he would not ask her to do anything she did not wish to do. **Who acts:** knights, man, Princess · **What happens:** beseech, intercede, answer, not be, not order, obey · **To what, where:** old man, real father, Princess, man, anything This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (knights, man, Princess), 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:pg65965:5:9 # text = They besought the old man to intercede for them, but he answered that he was not her real father, and that he could not order her to obey him, and also that he would not ask her to do anything she did not wish to do. 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 besought beseech VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 6 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 7 intercede intercede VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 advcl _ _ 8 for for ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 9 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 11 but but CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 12 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 13 answered answer VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 14 that that SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 16 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 cop _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 20 advmod _ _ 18 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 20 nmod:poss _ _ 19 real real ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 23 that that SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 24 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 25 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 27 aux _ _ 26 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 27 advmod _ _ 27 order order VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 conj _ _ 28 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 obj _ _ 29 to to PART TO _ 30 mark _ _ 30 obey obey VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 27 xcomp _ _ 31 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 34 also also ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 35 that that SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 36 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 37 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 38 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 39 advmod _ _ 39 ask ask VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 parataxis _ _ 40 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 iobj _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 xcomp _ _ 43 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 42 obj _ _ 44 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 nsubj _ _ 45 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 46 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 47 advmod _ _ 47 wish wish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 43 acl:relcl _ _ 48 to to PART TO _ 49 mark _ _ 49 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 47 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **beseech** | past | knights *= knight* | the old man | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **intercede** | to-infinitive | knights *= knight* *not said here* | | | | | for knights *= knight* | tree rules | | 3 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | man | | | | | | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **not** **is a** | past | man | Princess's real father | | | | Princess *nmod:poss* | tree rules | | 5 | **not** **order** | could | man | | Princess | | | | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | | 6 | **obey** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | man | | | | | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 7 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* | would | man | | Princess | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | | 8 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | anything | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Eventuality | | 9 | **not** **wish** | past · do-support | Princess | | | | | | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 10 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Princess *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/5/8/) - next →: [sentence 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/5/10/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/5/)