---
title: Grannonia, when she learnt that they were talking of her lover, aske… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Grannonia, when she learnt that they were talking of her lover, asked at once whose son he was, and if there was any hope of his recovery; to which the fox made answer that the birds had said he was the son of the King of Vallone Grosso, and that the only thing that could cure him was to rub the wou
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, The Enchanted Snake, sentence 52

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grannonia, when she learnt that they were talking of her lover, asked at once whose son he was, and if there was any hope of his recovery; to which the fox made answer that the birds had said he was the son of the King of Vallone Grosso, and that the only thing that could cure him was to rub the wounds on his head with the blood of the very birds who had told the tale.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Grannonia, doctors, fox, made answer, only thing, birds · **What happens:** learn, talk, ask, be, make, answer · **To what, where:** son, hope, birds, fox, tale · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Enchanted Snake. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Grannonia, doctors, fox, made answer), 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:pg7277:25:52
# text = Grannonia, when she learnt that they were talking of her lover, asked at once whose son he was, and if there was any hope of his recovery; to which the fox made answer that the birds had said he was the son of the King of Vallone Grosso, and that the only thing that could cure him was to rub the wounds on his head with the blood of the very birds who had told the tale.
1	Grannonia	Grannonia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	learnt	learn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	lover	lover	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	14	obl	_	_
17	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
23	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
24	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	25	expl	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
26	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	27	det	_	_
27	hope	hope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	recovery	recovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	37	punct	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	37	obl	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
36	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	37	amod	_	_
37	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
38	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	nsubj:pass	_	_
41	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
42	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	37	acl:relcl	_	_
43	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
44	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	cop	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	ccomp	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	_
50	of	of	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
51	Vallone	Vallone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	49	nmod	_	_
52	Grosso	Grosso	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	51	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
54	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	65	cc	_	_
55	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	65	mark	_	_
56	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
57	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	58	amod	_	_
58	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	nsubj	_	_
59	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	61	nsubj	_	_
60	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	61	aux	_	_
61	cure	cure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	58	acl:relcl	_	_
62	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	61	obj	_	_
63	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	65	cop	_	_
64	to	to	PART	TO	_	65	mark	_	_
65	rub	rub	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	parataxis	_	_
66	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
67	wounds	wound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	65	obj	_	_
68	on	on	ADP	IN	_	70	case	_	_
69	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	70	nmod:poss	_	_
70	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	67	nmod	_	_
71	with	with	ADP	IN	_	73	case	_	_
72	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	73	det	_	_
73	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	70	nmod	_	_
74	of	of	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
75	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
76	very	very	ADV	RB	_	77	advmod	_	_
77	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	73	nmod	_	_
78	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	80	nsubj	_	_
79	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	80	aux	_	_
80	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	77	acl:relcl	_	_
81	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	82	det	_	_
82	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	80	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
83	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | past | Grannonia |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **talk** | past · progressive | doctors *= doctor* |  |  |  |  | of Grannonia's lover | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Grannonia *not said here* |  | son |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient |
| 4 | **is a** | past |  | any hope |  |  |  | of fox's recovery | tree rules |
| 5 | **make** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 6 | **answer** *speech: assert* |  | the fox |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect · passive | made answer *not said here* | the birds |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 8 | **is a** | past | fox | the son |  |  |  | of the King of Vallone | tree rules |
| 9 | **cure** | could | the only thing | fox |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer he=Source |
| 10 | **is** | past | the only thing |  |  |  |  | rub *property* | tree rules |
| 11 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | the birds | the tale |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent tale=Recipient |
| 12 | **recover** |  | fox |  |  |  |  |  | nom recovery «event 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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