--- title: And they danced like peacocks at the sight of the first cloud in the… — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · tree and pragmatics description: And they danced like peacocks at the sight of the first cloud in the rainy season, and caught him in their arms, holding him as if they were afraid he would escape, to carry him away, like a precious jewel, to the King. Who acts: criers, father. A sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birt --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/51/) [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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/) / [A Sleep and a Dream., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/) / 51 # The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2, sentence 51 And they danced like peacocks at the sight of the first cloud in the rainy season, and caught him in their arms, holding him as if they were afraid he would escape, to carry him away, like a precious jewel, to the King. **Who acts:** criers, father · **What happens:** dance, catch, hold, be, escape, carry away · **To what, where:** sight, father, arms, first cloud This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (criers, father), 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:pg68641:4:51 # text = And they danced like peacocks at the sight of the first cloud in the rainy season, and caught him in their arms, holding him as if they were afraid he would escape, to carry him away, like a precious jewel, to the King. 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 3 cc _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 danced dance VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 like like ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 peacocks peacock NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obl _ _ 6 at at ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 sight sight NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 11 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 12 amod _ _ 12 cloud cloud NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nmod _ _ 13 in in ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 15 rainy rainy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 season season NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 caught catch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 20 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ _ 21 in in ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 23 nmod:poss _ _ 23 arms arm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 25 holding hold VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 19 advcl _ _ 26 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 obj _ _ 27 as as SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 28 if if SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 29 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 30 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 cop _ _ 31 afraid afraid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 advcl _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 33 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 34 aux _ _ 34 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 36 to to PART TO _ 37 mark _ _ 37 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 conj _ _ 38 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ _ 39 away away ADV RB _ 37 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 41 like like ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 42 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 43 precious precious ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 jewel jewel NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 46 to to ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **dance** | past | criers *= crier* | | | the sight of the first cloud | season | like peacocks | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at sight=Location | | 2 | **catch** | past | criers *= crier* *not said here* | father | | criers's arms | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 3 | **hold** | gerund | criers *= crier* *not said here* | father | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 4 | **is** | past | criers *= crier* | | | | | afraid *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **escape** | would | father | | | | | like a precious jewel; to the King | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to king=Initial\_Location | | 6 | **carry away** | to-infinitive | father *not said here* | father | | | | away *property* | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 7 | **sight** | | | the first cloud | | | | | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient | 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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, Project Gutenberg book 68641 (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 50](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/50/) - next →: [sentence 52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/52/) - ↑ back to [A Sleep and a Dream., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/)