--- title: The King, who was listening at the top of the staircase, thought thi… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The King, who was listening at the top of the staircase, thought this was not very polite; however, he took counsel with his favourite huntsman, and, following his advice, presently went down to see what was wanted of him. Who acts: King, this, Meantime. A sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andre --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/118/) [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/) / [The Green Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/) / [Prince Narcissus and the Princess Pote…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/) / 118 # The Green Fairy Book, Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla, sentence 118 The King, who was listening at the top of the staircase, thought this was not very polite; however, he took counsel with his favourite huntsman, and, following his advice, presently went down to see what was wanted of him. **Who acts:** King, this, Meantime · **What happens:** listen, think, not be, take, follow, go down · **To what, where:** counsel, advice · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (King, this, Meantime), 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:pg7277:11:118 # text = The King, who was listening at the top of the staircase, thought this was not very polite; however, he took counsel with his favourite huntsman, and, following his advice, presently went down to see what was wanted of him. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 4 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 6 nsubj _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 6 listening listen VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 acl _ _ 7 at at ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 top top NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 staircase staircase NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 14 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 15 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 19 nsubj _ _ 16 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 cop _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 18 very very ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 19 polite polite ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 20 ; ; PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 21 however however ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 23 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 24 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 parataxis _ _ 25 counsel counsel NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obj _ _ 26 with with ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 27 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 29 nmod:poss _ _ 28 favourite favourite ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 amod _ _ 29 huntsman huntsman NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 33 following follow VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 24 advcl _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 advice advice NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 37 presently presently ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 38 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 conj _ _ 39 down down ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 41 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 xcomp _ _ 42 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 44 nsubj:pass _ _ 43 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 aux:pass _ _ 44 wanted want VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 41 ccomp _ _ 45 of of ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 14 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **listen** | past · progressive | the King | | | | | at the top of the staircase | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at top=Theme | | 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | the King | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **not** **is** | past | this | | | | | polite *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **take** | past | Meantime | counsel | | | | with Meantime's favourite huntsman; however *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent counsel=Theme | | 5 | **follow** | gerund | Meantime *not said here* | Meantime's advice | | | | | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent advice=Theme | | 6 | **go down** | past | Meantime *not said here* | | | | | down, presently *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **see** | to-infinitive | Meantime *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 8 | **want** | past · passive | | | | | | of Meantime | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=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:** «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 7277 (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 117](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/117/) - next →: [sentence 119](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/119/) - ↑ back to [Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/)