---
title: Then, being anxious to know what might be the contents of the scroll… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics
description: Then, being anxious to know what might be the contents of the scroll, he asked the Vizier if he did not know of anyone who might be able to decipher it. Who acts: scroll. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 9, with its dependency 
---

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# The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 9, sentence 70

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Then, being anxious to know what might be the contents of the scroll, he asked the Vizier if he did not know of anyone who might be able to decipher it.

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**Who acts:** scroll · **What happens:** be, know, ask, not know, decipher · **To what, where:** contents, Vizier, box · **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 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (scroll), 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:pg65965:9:72
# text = Then, being anxious to know what might be the contents of the scroll, he asked the Vizier if he did not know of anyone who might be able to decipher it.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	anxious	anxious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	csubj	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	nsubj	_	_
8	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	cop	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	contents	contents	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	6	ccomp	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	scroll	scroll	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	Vizier	Vizier	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	iobj	_	_
20	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
22	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	24	advmod	_	_
24	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	ccomp	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	24	obl	_	_
27	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	30	nsubj	_	_
28	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	cop	_	_
30	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	acl:relcl	_	_
31	to	to	PART	TO	_	32	mark	_	_
32	decipher	decipher	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	xcomp	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  | then | anxious *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is a** | might |  | the contents |  |  |  | of the scroll; what *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | scroll |  | the Vizier |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent vizier=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **not** **know** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · do-support | scroll |  |  |  |  | of anyone | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of anyone=Stimulus |
| 6 | **is** | might |  |  |  |  |  | who *nsubj*; able *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **decipher** | to-infinitive |  | box |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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