---
title: After this the tortoise went from one animal to another, and many of… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: After this the tortoise went from one animal to another, and many of them were swallowed by the python, but the tortoise always escaped. Who acts: python, tortoise. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., with it
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/22/27/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a T…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/22/) / 27

# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 27

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
After this the tortoise went from one animal to another, and many of them were swallowed by the python, but the tortoise always escaped.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** python, tortoise · **What happens:** go, swallow, escape · **To what, where:** many

<!-- .vabout -->
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.

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

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg70959:22:27
# text = After this the tortoise went from one animal to another, and many of them were swallowed by the python, but the tortoise always escaped.
1	After	after	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	nsubj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nmod	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
18	by	by	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
25	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	26	advmod	_	_
26	escaped	escape	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past |  |  |  |  | after this tortoise | from one animal to another | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme from animal=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **swallow** | past · passive | the python | many of animals |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 3 | **escape** | past | the tortoise |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/22/26/)
- next →: [sentence 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/22/28/)
- ↑ back to [Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/22/)