---
title: When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python he… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python he was going to stay the night with his friend the bush buck, and then went away. Who acts: python, tortoise. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 24

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When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python he was going to stay the night with his friend the bush buck, and then went away.

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**Who acts:** python, tortoise · **What happens:** satisfy, tell, go, stay, go away · **To what, where:** appetite, python, bush buck · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (python, tortoise), 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:pg70959:22:24
# text = When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python he was going to stay the night with his friend the bush buck, and then went away.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	satisfied	satisfy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	appetite	appetite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	ccomp	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl:unmarked	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	buck	buck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	29	advmod	_	_
29	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
30	away	away	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **satisfy** | past · perfect | python | python's appetite |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus appetite=Experiencer |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the tortoise | the python |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent python=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **go** | past · progressive | python |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **stay** | to-infinitive | python *not said here* | the bush buck |  |  | night | with python's friend | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with friend=Location |
| 5 | **go away** | past | the tortoise *not said here* |  |  |  | then | away *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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:** «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Project Gutenberg book 70959 (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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