---
title: When he started out they watched him; he took four steps from the lo… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: When he started out they watched him; he took four steps from the lodge door, and then suddenly vanished, the thunder beginning again and rumbling away into the distance. Who acts: Wolf, tracks, thunder. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, 
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, Thunder Maker and Cold Maker, sentence 79

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When he started out they watched him; he took four steps from the lodge door, and then suddenly vanished, the thunder beginning again and rumbling away into the distance.

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**Who acts:** Wolf, tracks, thunder · **What happens:** start out, watch, take, vanish, begin, rumble away · **To what, where:** Wolf, four steps, lodge door, thunder

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Thunder Maker and Cold Maker. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Wolf, tracks, thunder), 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:pg66596:12:79
# text = When he started out they watched him; he took four steps from the lodge door, and then suddenly vanished, the thunder beginning again and rumbling away into the distance.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	watched	watch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
11	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	lodge	lodge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
19	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	21	advmod	_	_
20	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	vanished	vanish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
25	beginning	begin	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	24	acl	_	_
26	again	again	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	rumbling	rumble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	25	conj	_	_
29	away	away	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
30	into	into	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start out** | past | Wolf |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **watch** | past | tracks *= track* | Wolf |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 3 | **take** | past | Wolf | four steps |  | the lodge door |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent step=Theme from door=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **vanish** | past | Wolf *not said here* | the thunder |  |  | then | suddenly *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **begin** | gerund | the thunder *not said here* |  |  |  | again |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 6 | **rumble away** | gerund | the thunder *not said here* |  |  |  |  | into the distance; away *property* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent into distance=Recipient |

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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 Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Project Gutenberg book 66596 (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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