--- title: As soon as the old man got home, he told his housekeeper that he had… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: As soon as the old man got home, he told his housekeeper that he had bought a beast under the belief that it was a mule, but that it had turned out to be a donkey--at least, so he had been assured by several people he had met on the road, and that in disgust he had at last given it away. Who acts: o --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/26/44/) [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/) / [The Biter Bit, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/26/) / 44 # The Green Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 1, sentence 44 As soon as the old man got home, he told his housekeeper that he had bought a beast under the belief that it was a mule, but that it had turned out to be a donkey--at least, so he had been assured by several people he had met on the road, and that in disgust he had at last given it away. **Who acts:** old man, man, beast, it, several people · **What happens:** get, tell, buy, be, turn out, assure · **To what, where:** housekeeper, beast, belief, mule, least, donkey · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Biter Bit, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (old man, man, beast, it), 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:pg7277:26:44 # text = As soon as the old man got home, he told his housekeeper that he had bought a beast under the belief that it was a mule, but that it had turned out to be a donkey--at least, so he had been assured by several people he had met on the road, and that in disgust he had at last given it away. 1 As as ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ _ 2 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 11 advmod _ _ 3 as as SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 7 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 advcl _ _ 8 home home ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 10 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 11 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 housekeeper housekeeper NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ _ 14 that that SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 16 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 17 bought buy VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 11 ccomp _ _ 18 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 beast beast NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obj _ _ 20 under under ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 belief belief NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ _ 23 that that SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 24 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 25 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 cop _ _ 26 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 mule mule NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 29 but but CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 30 that that SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 31 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 turned turn VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 11 parataxis _ _ 34 out out ADP RP _ 33 compound:prt _ _ 35 to to PART TO _ 38 mark _ _ 36 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 38 cop _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 donkey donkey NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 -- -- PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 at at ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 41 least least ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 42 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 43 so so ADV RB _ 47 advmod _ _ 44 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 nsubj _ _ 45 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 46 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 47 aux:pass _ _ 47 assured assure VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 33 conj _ _ 48 by by ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 49 several several ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 obl _ _ 51 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 53 nsubj _ _ 52 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 53 aux _ _ 53 met meet VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 50 acl:relcl _ _ 54 on on ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 55 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 56 det _ _ 56 road road NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 57 , , PUNCT , _ 63 punct _ _ 58 and and CCONJ CC _ 63 cc _ _ 59 that that SCONJ IN _ 63 mark _ _ 60 in in ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 61 disgust disgust NOUN NN Number=Sing 63 obl _ _ 62 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 63 nsubj _ _ 63 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 ccomp _ _ 64 at at ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 65 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 63 obj _ _ 66 given give VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 65 acl _ _ 67 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 66 obj _ _ 68 away away ADV RB _ 66 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 69 . . PUNCT . _ 11 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | past | the old man | | | | | home *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | man | man's housekeeper | | | | soon *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent housekeeper=Recipient clause=Topic | | 3 | **buy** | past · perfect | man | a beast | | the belief | | | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beast=Theme | | 4 | **is a** | past | beast | a mule | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **turn out** | past · perfect | it | | | least | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at least=Location | | 6 | **is a** | to-infinitive | | a donkey | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **assure** | past · perfect · passive | several people | man | | | | | vn advise-37.9 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient | | 8 | **meet** | past · perfect | man | several people *not said here* | | the road | | | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Co-Agent | | 9 | **have** | past | man | last | | disgust | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent last=Patient | | 10 | **give away** | participle | | beast | | | | away *property* | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent it=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 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/26/43/) - next →: [sentence 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/26/45/) - ↑ back to [The Biter Bit, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/26/)