---
title: Speckle-neck told him what had happened to them, and without a word… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics
description: Speckle-neck told him what had happened to them, and without a word the Mouse-king began to gnaw at the strings which held his friend. Who acts: Speckle neck, Mouse king, strings. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 8, with its de
---

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# The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 8, sentence 27

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Speckle-neck told him what had happened to them, and without a word the Mouse-king began to gnaw at the strings which held his friend.

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**Who acts:** Speckle neck, Mouse king, strings · **What happens:** tell, happen, begin, gnaw, hold · **To what, where:** friend, net · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Speckle neck, Mouse king, strings), 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:pg65965:8:28
# text = Speckle-neck told him what had happened to them, and without a word the Mouse-king began to gnaw at the strings which held his friend.
1	Speckle	speckle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	happened	happen	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
13	without	without	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	Mouse	Mouse	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	gnaw	gnaw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	xcomp	_	_
23	at	at	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	_
26	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	27	nsubj	_	_
27	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	acl:relcl	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Speckle neck |  | friend |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **happen** | past · perfect |  |  | net |  |  | what *nsubj* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **begin** | past | the Mouse king |  |  |  |  | without a word | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **gnaw** | to-infinitive | the Mouse king *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at the strings | vn chew-39.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at string=Patient |
| 5 | **hold** | past | the strings | friend's friend |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent friend=Theme |

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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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