---
title: After a while the cannibal went to sleep, when they crept out, first… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: After a while the cannibal went to sleep, when they crept out, first putting two blocks of wood in their places, and ran away as fast as they could. Who acts: cannibal, children. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather., with its depen
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather., sentence 35

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After a while the cannibal went to sleep, when they crept out, first putting two blocks of wood in their places, and ran away as fast as they could.

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**Who acts:** cannibal, children · **What happens:** go, sleep, creep out, put, run away · **To what, where:** two blocks, places

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cannibal, children), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg71335:12:35
# text = After a while the cannibal went to sleep, when they crept out, first putting two blocks of wood in their places, and ran away as fast as they could.
1	After	after	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	while	while	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cannibal	cannibal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	crept	creep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
13	out	out	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	16	advmod	_	_
16	putting	put	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
17	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	nummod	_	_
18	blocks	block	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
27	away	away	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
28	as	as	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
29	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	26	advmod	_	_
30	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
31	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the cannibal |  |  |  | while |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sleep** | to-infinitive | the cannibal *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **creep out** | past | children *= child* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **put** | gerund | children *= child* *not said here* | two blocks of wood |  | children's places |  | first *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent block=Theme in place=Destination |
| 5 | **run away** | past | the cannibal *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away, fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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:** «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Project Gutenberg book 71335 (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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