---
title: And when the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go n… — Indian Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: And when the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a lion. Who acts: watchmen. A sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 15, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Indian Fairy Tales, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 15, sentence 112

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And when the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a lion.

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**Who acts:** watchmen · **What happens:** see, go, take · **To what, where:** ass, Buddha

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This is a sentence of «Indian Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Demon With Matted Hair " 196, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (watchmen), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg7128:21:112
# text = And when the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a lion.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
2	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	watchmen	watchman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fields	field	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ass	ass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	dared	dare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
15	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
16	near	near	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	taking	take	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	_
20	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | the watchmen in the fields | the ass |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ass=Stimulus |
| 2 | **go** | past | watchmen *= watchman* |  |  |  |  | near Buddha | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme near he=Location |
| 3 | **take** | gerund | watchmen *= watchman* *not said here* | Buddha |  |  |  | for a lion | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent he=Theme for lion=Beneficiary |

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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:** «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.

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