---
title: Now, although the python never did any work on the farm, he always a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Now, although the python never did any work on the farm, he always attended the feasts and, being very greedy, eat more than his share of the food. Who acts: python, work. 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 4

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Now, although the python never did any work on the farm, he always attended the feasts and, being very greedy, eat more than his share of the food.

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**Who acts:** python, work · **What happens:** not do, attend, be, eat, share · **To what, where:** work, farm, feasts, more, food

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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, work), 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:pg70959:22:4
# text = Now, although the python never did any work on the farm, he always attended the feasts and, being very greedy, eat more than his share of the food.
1	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
8	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	16	advmod	_	_
16	attended	attend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	feasts	feast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	cop	_	_
22	very	very	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
25	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|Typo=Yes|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
26	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	25	obj	_	_
27	than	than	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	share	share	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **do** | past | the python | any work |  | the farm |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Eventuality |
| 2 | **attend** | past | work | the feasts |  |  | now | always *property* | vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme feast=Goal |
| 3 | **is** | gerund | work *not said here* |  |  |  |  | greedy *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **eat** | present | work *not said here* | more than work's share of the food |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent more=Patient |
| 5 | **share** |  | work | the food |  |  |  |  | nom share «possession transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

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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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