--- title: Then they all began to climb the rope together, leaving the tortoise… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Then they all began to climb the rope together, leaving the tortoise on the ground, and just as he was about to commence to climb, the others having already reached halfway, the hare cut the rope with one cut of his sharp knife, and all the animals fell down upon the tortoise, smashing his smooth sh --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/68/) [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/) / 68 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 68 Then they all began to climb the rope together, leaving the tortoise on the ground, and just as he was about to commence to climb, the others having already reached halfway, the hare cut the rope with one cut of his sharp knife, and all the animals fell down upon the tortoise, smashing his smooth shell into small pieces, and hurting themselves very much. **Who acts:** people, rope, hare, animals · **What happens:** begin, climb, leave, be, commence, reach · **To what, where:** rope, tortoise, ground, others, smooth shell, small pieces 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 (people, rope, hare, animals), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:4:68 # text = Then they all began to climb the rope together, leaving the tortoise on the ground, and just as he was about to commence to climb, the others having already reached halfway, the hare cut the rope with one cut of his sharp knife, and all the animals fell down upon the tortoise, smashing his smooth shell into small pieces, and hurting themselves very much. 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 2 det _ _ 4 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 climb climb VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 rope rope NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 9 together together ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 11 leaving leave VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 6 advcl _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 tortoise tortoise NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ _ 14 on on ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 19 just just ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 20 as as SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 23 about about ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 advcl _ _ 24 to to PART TO _ 25 mark _ _ 25 commence commence VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 xcomp _ _ 26 to to PART TO _ 27 mark _ _ 27 climb climb VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 others other NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 nsubj:pass _ _ 31 having have AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 33 aux _ _ 32 already already ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ _ 33 reached reach VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 parataxis _ _ 34 halfway halfway ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nsubj _ _ 38 cut cut VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 rope rope NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ _ 41 with with ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 43 nummod _ _ 43 cut cut NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obl _ _ 44 of of ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 45 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 47 nmod:poss _ _ 46 sharp sharp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 knife knife NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 49 and and CCONJ CC _ 53 cc _ _ 50 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 52 det:predet _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 animals animal NOUN NNS Number=Plur 53 nsubj _ _ 53 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 54 down down ADV RB _ 53 advmod _ _ 55 upon upon ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 tortoise tortoise NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 59 punct _ _ 59 smashing smash VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 53 advcl _ _ 60 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 62 nmod:poss _ _ 61 smooth smooth ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 62 amod _ _ 62 shell shell NOUN NN Number=Sing 59 obj _ _ 63 into into ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 pieces piece NOUN NNS Number=Plur 59 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 66 , , PUNCT , _ 68 punct _ _ 67 and and CCONJ CC _ 68 cc _ _ 68 hurting hurt VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 conj _ _ 69 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 68 obj _ _ 70 very very ADV RB _ 71 advmod _ _ 71 much much ADV RB _ 68 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 72 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **begin** | past | people | | | | then | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **climb** | to-infinitive | people *not said here* | the rope | | | | together *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location rope=Theme | | 3 | **leave** | gerund | people *not said here* | the tortoise | | the ground | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent tortoise=Theme on ground=Location | | 4 | **is** | past | rope | | | | | about *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **commence** | to-infinitive | rope *not said here* | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 6 | **climb** | to-infinitive | rope *not said here* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **reach** | gerund · perfect · passive | | the others | | | | halfway *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme | | 8 | **cut** | past | the hare | the rope | | | | with one cut of hare's sharp knife | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rope=Patient with cut=Instrument | | 9 | **fall down** | past | all animals | | | the tortoise | | down *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon tortoise=Location | | 10 | **smash** | gerund | all animals *not said here* | hare's smooth shell | | small pieces | | | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent shell=Theme into piece=Destination | | 11 | **hurt** | gerund | people *not said here* | people | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer themselves=Patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 67](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/67/) - next →: [sentence 69](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/69/) - ↑ 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/)