--- title: The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried vainly to escape… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried vainly to escape from the castle, by leaping from the roof into the clouds; but every time they caught him, and rolling softly up, brought him back to the place from which he started, so at last he gave up the attempt and waited with desperate pati --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/158/) [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/) / 158 # The Green Fairy Book, Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla, sentence 158 The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried vainly to escape from the castle, by leaping from the roof into the clouds; but every time they caught him, and rolling softly up, brought him back to the place from which he started, so at last he gave up the attempt and waited with desperate patience for the return of Melinette. **Who acts:** cloud, Prince, Melinette · **What happens:** distract, try, escape, leap, catch, roll · **To what, where:** Prince, castle, roof, place, attempt, last 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 (cloud, Prince, Melinette), 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:pg7277:11:158 # text = The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried vainly to escape from the castle, by leaping from the roof into the clouds; but every time they caught him, and rolling softly up, brought him back to the place from which he started, so at last he gave up the attempt and waited with desperate patience for the return of Melinette. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux:pass _ _ 4 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 5 advmod _ _ 5 distracted distract VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 6 than than ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 10 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 11 vainly vainly ADV RB _ 10 advmod _ _ 12 to to PART TO _ 13 mark _ _ 13 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 xcomp _ _ 14 from from ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 castle castle NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 by by SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 19 leaping leap VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 advcl _ _ 20 from from ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 roof roof NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ _ 23 into into ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 clouds cloud NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 ; ; PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 27 but but CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 28 every every DET DT PronType=Tot 29 det _ _ 29 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl:unmarked _ _ 30 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 caught catch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 32 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 35 rolling roll VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 39 advcl _ _ 36 softly softly ADV RB _ 37 advmod _ _ 37 up up ADV RB _ 35 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 39 brought bring VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 conj _ _ 40 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 obj _ _ 41 back back ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 42 to to ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 44 place place NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 45 from from ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 48 obl _ _ 47 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 48 started start VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 50 so so ADV RB _ 54 advmod _ _ 51 at at ADP IN _ 52 case _ _ 52 last last NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obl _ _ 53 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 54 gave give VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 conj _ _ 55 up up ADP RP _ 54 compound:prt _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 attempt attempt NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obj _ _ 58 and and CCONJ CC _ 59 cc _ _ 59 waited wait VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 conj _ _ 60 with with ADP IN _ 62 case _ _ 61 desperate desperate ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 62 amod _ _ 62 patience patience NOUN NN Number=Sing 59 obl _ _ 63 for for ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 65 return return NOUN NN Number=Sing 59 obl _ _ 66 of of ADP IN _ 67 case _ _ 67 Melinette Melinette PROPN NNP Number=Sing 65 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 68 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **distract** | past · passive | | the Prince | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | | 2 | **try** | past | | | | | | vainly *property* | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **escape** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | | | the castle | | | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from castle=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **leap** | gerund | | | | the roof | | into the clouds | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into cloud=Destination | | 5 | **catch** | past | cloud | Prince | | | time | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 6 | **roll** | gerund | | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **bring back** | past | cloud *not said here* | Prince | | the place | | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to place=Destination | | 8 | **start** | past | Prince | | | the place | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 9 | **give up** | past | Prince | the attempt | | last | | | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent attempt=Source | | 10 | **wait** | past | Prince *not said here* | | | | | with desperate patience; for the return of Melinette | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 11 | **return** | | Melinette | | | | | | nom return «communication intransitive»: of=agent | 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 157](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/157/) - next →: [sentence 159](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/159/) - ↑ back to [Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/11/)