---
title: No river or lake could stop his way, and he was able to kill many of… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: No river or lake could stop his way, and he was able to kill many of the enemy who were encamped by the shores of any water, for, whenever he asked it of his medicine, it took him safely down under the surface of the water, wherever he wished to go. Who acts: river, shores, it. A sentence of «The Pu
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, The Beaver Stick, sentence 162

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No river or lake could stop his way, and he was able to kill many of the enemy who were encamped by the shores of any water, for, whenever he asked it of his medicine, it took him safely down under the surface of the water, wherever he wished to go.

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**Who acts:** river, shores, it · **What happens:** stop, be, kill, encamp, ask, take · **To what, where:** way, many, enemy, river, surface

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, The Beaver Stick. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (river, shores, it), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg66596:17:162
# text = No river or lake could stop his way, and he was able to kill many of the enemy who were encamped by the shores of any water, for, whenever he asked it of his medicine, it took him safely down under the surface of the water, wherever he wished to go.
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	parataxis	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
20	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	22	nsubj	_	_
21	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	encamped	encamp	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl:relcl	_	_
23	by	by	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	shores	shore	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	28	det	_	_
28	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
30	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
32	whenever	whenever	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	34	advmod	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
35	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
38	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
40	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
41	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	parataxis	_	_
42	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	obj	_	_
43	safely	safely	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
44	down	down	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
45	under	under	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obl	_	_
48	of	of	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
52	wherever	wherever	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	54	advmod	_	_
53	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	nsubj	_	_
54	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	conj	_	_
55	to	to	PART	TO	_	56	mark	_	_
56	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | could | no river or lake | river's way |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality way=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | past | river |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **kill** | to-infinitive | river *not said here* | many of the enemy |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent many=Theme |
| 4 | **encamp** | past · passive | the shores of any water | the enemy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | river |  | way |  |  | of river's medicine; whenever *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |
| 6 | **take** | past | it |  | river | the surface of the water |  | down *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination |
| 7 | **wish** | past | river |  |  |  |  | wherever *property* | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 8 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | river *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **medicine** |  | river |  |  |  |  |  | nom medicine «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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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