--- title: The merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what… — Indian Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and parents. Who acts: merchant. A sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon Wit --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/17/85/) [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 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/17/) / 85 # Indian Fairy Tales, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 11, sentence 85 The merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and parents. **Who acts:** merchant · **What happens:** inquire, come, be, reply, wonder, beg · **To what, where:** caste, Brahman, livelihood This is a sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (merchant), 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:pg7128:17:85 # text = The merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and parents. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 merchant merchant NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 inquired inquire VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 whence whence ADV WRB PronType=Int 7 advmod _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 come come VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 9 why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 12 advmod _ _ 10 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 come come VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 7 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 14 and and CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 15 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 18 nsubj _ _ 16 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 cop _ _ 17 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 18 caste caste NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 ; ; PUNCT : _ 23 punct _ _ 20 to to ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 23 obl _ _ 22 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 23 replied reply VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 24 that that SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 25 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 26 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 cop _ _ 27 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 Brahman brahman NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 31 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 wandering wonder VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 advcl _ _ 33 hither hither ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 35 thither thither ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 36 begging beg VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 32 conj _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 livelihood livelihood NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obj _ _ 39 for for ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 36 obl _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 42 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 conj _ _ 43 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 44 parents parent NOUN NNS Number=Plur 42 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **inquire** *speech: other* | past | the merchant | | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **come** | past · perfect | merchant | | | | | whence *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **come** | past · perfect | merchant | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **is a** | past | | merchant's caste | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | merchant | | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to which=Theme | | 6 | **is a** | past | merchant | a Brahman | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **wonder** *speech: ask* | past · progressive | merchant *not said here* | | | | | hither *property* | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **beg** *speech: request* | gerund | merchant *not said here* | a livelihood | | | | for merchant; thither *property* | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent livelihood=Recipient for himself=Topic | 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 84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/17/84/) - next →: [sentence 86](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/17/86/) - ↑ back to [Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7128/17/)