---
title: When the python heard this he said, “Now the time is come when I can… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the python heard this he said, “Now the time is come when I can revenge myself upon the tortoise and the other people who would not let me eat the king’s food last year.” Who acts: python, other people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 9

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When the python heard this he said, “Now the time is come when I can revenge myself upon the tortoise and the other people who would not let me eat the king’s food last year.”

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**Who acts:** python, other people · **What happens:** hear, say, come, revenge, not let, eat · **To what, where:** this, time, python, food · **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, other people), 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:pg70959:22:9
# text = When the python heard this he said, “Now the time is come when I can revenge myself upon the tortoise and the other people who would not let me eat the king’s food last year.”
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	obj	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	14	advmod	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	_
15	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
16	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	revenge	revenge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
19	myself	myself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
20	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	conj	_	_
27	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	30	nsubj	_	_
28	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
30	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	acl:relcl	_	_
31	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	30	obj	_	_
32	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	xcomp	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	’s	's	PART	POS	_	34	case	_	_
36	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
37	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the python | this |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer this=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | python |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **come** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | the time |  |  | now | upon the tortoise and the other people; myself *obl:unmarked* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **revenge** *in a quote* | can | python |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **let** *in a quote* | would | the other people | python |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **eat** *in a quote* | infinitive | python *not said here* | the king's food |  |  | year |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=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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