---
title: The hare, being very greedy and fond of meat, wanted to have it all… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The hare, being very greedy and fond of meat, wanted to have it all to himself, so, when all the people had gone to bed, he slipped out of his house by the back way, and very soon had taken the dried meat out of Keroho’s yard and returned to his house, where he made a good meal, and buried what he c
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/24/)

<!-- 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/) / [Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tor…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/) / 24

# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 24

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hare, being very greedy and fond of meat, wanted to have it all to himself, so, when all the people had gone to bed, he slipped out of his house by the back way, and very soon had taken the dried meat out of Keroho’s yard and returned to his house, where he made a good meal, and buried what he could not eat.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** hare, people, Keroho · **What happens:** be, want, have, go, slip out, take · **To what, where:** meat, hare, bed, house, dried meat, good meal

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (hare, people, Keroho), 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:pg70959:4:24
# text = The hare, being very greedy and fond of meat, wanted to have it all to himself, so, when all the people had gone to bed, he slipped out of his house by the back way, and very soon had taken the dried meat out of Keroho’s yard and returned to his house, where he made a good meal, and buried what he could not eat.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	cop	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	greedy	greedy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fond	fond	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
12	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
20	so	so	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	27	mark	_	_
23	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	25	det:predet	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	nsubj	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	conj	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	slipped	slip	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	parataxis	_	_
33	out	out	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	_
37	by	by	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
40	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
43	very	very	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
44	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	46	advmod	_	_
45	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
46	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	32	parataxis	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
48	dried	dry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	49	amod	_	_
49	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	_
50	out	out	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
51	of	of	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
52	Keroho	Keroho	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	54	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	’s	's	PART	POS	_	52	case	_	_
54	yard	yard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
55	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
56	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	conj	_	_
57	to	to	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	59	nmod:poss	_	_
59	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
61	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	63	advmod	_	_
62	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	nsubj	_	_
63	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	59	acl:relcl	_	_
64	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	66	det	_	_
65	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	66	amod	_	_
66	meal	meal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	69	punct	_	_
68	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	69	cc	_	_
69	buried	bury	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
70	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	74	obj	_	_
71	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	74	nsubj	_	_
72	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	74	aux	_	_
73	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	74	advmod	_	_
74	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	69	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
75	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | gerund | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  | greedy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of meat | tree rules |
| 3 | **want** | past | the hare |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **have** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the hare *not said here* | meat | hare |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 5 | **go** | past · perfect | all people |  |  | bed |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to bed=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **slip out** | past | hare | hare's house |  |  |  | by the back way | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent house=Patient |
| 7 | **take** | past · perfect |  | the dried meat |  |  |  | out Keroho's yard; soon *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent meat=Theme out yard=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **dry** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 9 | **return** | past |  |  |  |  |  | to Keroho's house *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to house=Result |
| 10 | **make** | past | Keroho | a good meal |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meal=Product |
| 11 | **bury** | past | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 12 | **not** **eat** | could | Keroho |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Patient |

<!-- .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 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/23/)
- next →: [sentence 25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/25/)
- ↑ back to [Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/)