---
title: It seemed as if they would go on for ever with their reminiscences,… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: It seemed as if they would go on for ever with their reminiscences, the Prince telling how he had wandered all over the world from beauty to beauty, always to be disappointed when he found that no one resembled the portrait; the Princess wondering how it was he could have been so long with her and y
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, Prince Featherhead and the Princess Celandine, sentence 185

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It seemed as if they would go on for ever with their reminiscences, the Prince telling how he had wandered all over the world from beauty to beauty, always to be disappointed when he found that no one resembled the portrait; the Princess wondering how it was he could have been so long with her and yet never have recognised her, and over and over again pardoning him for his cold and haughty behaviour to her.

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**Who acts:** It, plums, Prince, one, Princess · **What happens:** seem, go on, tell, wander, be, find · **To what, where:** world, portrait, lover, Prince, rest · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Prince Featherhead and the Princess Celandine. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, plums, Prince, one), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg7277:12:185
# text = It seemed as if they would go on for ever with their reminiscences, the Prince telling how he had wandered all over the world from beauty to beauty, always to be disappointed when he found that no one resembled the portrait; the Princess wondering how it was he could have been so long with her and yet never have recognised her, and over and over again pardoning him for his cold and haughty behaviour to her.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
8	on	on	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	7	obl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	reminiscences	reminiscence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	Prince	Prince	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	_
17	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	16	acl	_	_
18	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	21	advmod	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	wandered	wander	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	17	ccomp	_	_
22	all	all	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
23	over	over	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
26	from	from	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	beauty	beauty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	beauty	beauty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
31	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	34	advmod	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
33	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	cop	_	_
34	disappointed	disappointed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	conj	_	_
35	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	37	advmod	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	advcl	_	_
38	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	41	mark	_	_
39	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	40	det	_	_
40	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nsubj	_	_
41	resembled	resemble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	ccomp	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	portrait	portrait	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	71	punct	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	Princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	71	nsubj	_	_
47	wondering	wonder	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	46	acl	_	_
48	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	63	advmod	_	_
49	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	nsubj	_	_
50	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	63	aux:pass	_	_
51	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	nsubj	_	_
52	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	63	aux	_	_
53	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	63	aux	_	_
54	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	56	cop	_	_
55	so	so	ADV	RB	_	56	advmod	_	_
56	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	63	advmod	_	_
57	with	with	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
58	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	obl	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	63	cc	_	_
60	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	63	advmod	_	_
61	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	63	advmod	_	_
62	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	63	aux	_	_
63	recognised	recognise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	47	advcl	_	_
64	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	67	punct	_	_
66	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	_
67	over	over	ADV	RB	_	71	advmod	_	_
68	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	69	cc	_	_
69	over	over	ADV	RB	_	67	conj	_	_
70	again	again	ADV	RB	_	67	advmod	_	_
71	pardoning	pardon	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
72	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	71	obj	_	_
73	for	for	ADP	IN	_	78	case	_	_
74	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	78	nmod:poss	_	_
75	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	78	amod	_	_
76	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	77	cc	_	_
77	haughty	haughty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	75	conj	_	_
78	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	71	obl	_	_
79	to	to	ADP	IN	_	80	case	_	_
80	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	71	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
81	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | past | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **go on** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | plums *= plum* |  |  |  |  | with plums's reminiscences | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | the Prince *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **wander** | past · perfect | Prince |  |  | the world |  | from beauty to beauty | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over world=Trajectory |
| 5 | **is** | to-infinitive | Prince *not said here* |  |  |  |  | always, disappointed *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **find** | past | Prince |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 7 | **resemble** | past | no one | the portrait |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **wonder** *speech: ask* | gerund | the Princess *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **is** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with Princess; long *property* | tree rules |
| 10 | **not** **recognise** | could · past · perfect · passive |  | lover |  |  | yet |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **pardon** | gerund | the Princess | Prince | rest |  |  | for Prince's cold behaviour; over *property* | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent he=Theme for behaviour=Attribute |
| 12 | **reminisce** |  | plums *= plum* |  |  |  |  |  | nom reminiscence «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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:** «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.

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