---
title: When midnight came the python got up and went to the chief’s house a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When midnight came the python got up and went to the chief’s house and returned the different portions of the young men’s bodies which he had borrowed. Who acts: midnight, python. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Wh
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 51

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When midnight came the python got up and went to the chief’s house and returned the different portions of the young men’s bodies which he had borrowed.

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**Who acts:** midnight, python · **What happens:** come, get up, go, return, borrow · **To what, where:** house, different portions, bodies

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (midnight, python), 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:pg70959:24:51
# text = When midnight came the python got up and went to the chief’s house and returned the different portions of the young men’s bodies which he had borrowed.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	midnight	midnight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	’s	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	portions	portion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	’s	's	PART	POS	_	23	case	_	_
25	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nmod	_	_
26	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
28	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
29	borrowed	borrow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | midnight |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **get up** | past | the python |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **go** | past | the python *not said here* |  |  | the chief's house |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to house=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **return** | past | the python *not said here* | the different portions of the young men's bodies |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent portion=Theme |
| 5 | **borrow** | past · perfect · passive |  | the young men's bodies |  |  |  | python *nsubj* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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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