--- title: But the snake refused, saying that it could not go to its father til… — Indian Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: But the snake refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was released from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible death, and whose slave it therefore was. Who acts: snake, highness, slave. A sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon With Matted Hair " 196 --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/16/74/) [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/) / [Indian Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/) / [Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/16/) / 74 # Indian Fairy Tales, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 10, sentence 74 But the snake refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was released from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible death, and whose slave it therefore was. **Who acts:** snake, highness, slave · **What happens:** refuse, say, not go, release, save, slave · **To what, where:** highness, stranger, terrible death · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (snake, highness, slave), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg7128:16:74 # text = But the snake refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was released from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible death, and whose slave it therefore was. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 snake snake NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 refused refuse VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 6 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 advcl _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 8 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 9 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 10 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 11 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 ccomp _ _ 12 to to ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 14 nmod:poss _ _ 14 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ _ 15 till till SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 16 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj:pass _ _ 17 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 aux:pass _ _ 18 released release VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 11 advcl _ _ 19 from from ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 20 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 21 det _ _ 21 stranger stranger NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 23 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 25 nsubj:pass _ _ 24 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 aux _ _ 25 saved save VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 21 acl:relcl _ _ 26 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 obj _ _ 27 from from ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 28 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 29 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 30 advmod _ _ 30 terrible terrible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 death death NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 34 whose whose PRON WP$ Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nsubj _ _ 36 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 37 therefore therefore ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 38 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **refuse** | past | the snake | | | | | | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the snake *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **not** **go** | could | highness | | | | | to highness's father | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to father=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **release** | past · passive | | highness | | this stranger | | | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Source | | 5 | **save** | past · perfect · passive | | this stranger | | a terrible death | | | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: subject=Beneficiary it=Theme | | 6 | **slave** | | highness | | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **be** | past | slave | | | | | therefore *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | 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:** «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7128 (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 73](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/16/73/) - next →: [sentence 75](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/16/75/) - ↑ back to [Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/16/)