---
title: But what was his surprise, when having at her request set the gazell… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: But what was his surprise, when having at her request set the gazelle gently down upon the steps which led up to the castle, he saw her suddenly change into a charming Princess, and recognized in her his pretty cousin Placida, who greeted him with her usual tranquil sweetness. Who acts: request, ste
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida, part 2, sentence 63

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But what was his surprise, when having at her request set the gazelle gently down upon the steps which led up to the castle, he saw her suddenly change into a charming Princess, and recognized in her his pretty cousin Placida, who greeted him with her usual tranquil sweetness.

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**Who acts:** request, steps, water, Placida · **What happens:** be, have, set, lead up, see, change · **To what, where:** surprise, gazelle, pretty cousin, Prince · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (request, steps, water, Placida), 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:pg7277:37:63
# text = But what was his surprise, when having at her request set the gazelle gently down upon the steps which led up to the castle, he saw her suddenly change into a charming Princess, and recognized in her his pretty cousin Placida, who greeted him with her usual tranquil sweetness.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	surprise	surprise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	8	mark	_	_
8	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	set	set	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	gazelle	gazelle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	gently	gently	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	down	down	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
17	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
20	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	21	nsubj	_	_
21	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	acl:relcl	_	_
22	up	up	ADP	RP	_	21	compound:prt	_	_
23	to	to	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
29	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
31	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	28	ccomp	_	_
32	into	into	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
34	charming	charm	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	35	amod	_	_
35	Princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
38	recognized	recognize	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	28	conj	_	_
39	in	in	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
40	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
41	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
42	pretty	pretty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	43	amod	_	_
43	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	_
44	Placida	Placida	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	43	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
46	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	47	nsubj	_	_
47	greeted	greet	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	44	acl:relcl	_	_
48	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	obj	_	_
49	with	with	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
50	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	53	nmod:poss	_	_
51	usual	usual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	amod	_	_
52	tranquil	tranquil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	amod	_	_
53	sweetness	sweetness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | Prince's surprise |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **set** | past | water's request | the gazelle |  |  |  | upon the steps; down *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent gazelle=Theme upon step=Destination |
| 4 | **lead up** | past | the steps |  |  |  |  | to the castle | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition to castle=Patient |
| 5 | **see** | past | request |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 6 | **change** | present | water |  |  |  |  | into a charming Princess *result*; suddenly *property* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.result»: agent=Patient into princess=Result |
| 7 | **charm** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **recognize** | participle | request *not said here* |  |  | water's pretty cousin |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **greet** *speech: greet* | past | Placida |  | Prince |  |  | with water's usual tranquil sweetness | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 10 | **request** |  | water |  |  |  |  |  | nom request «communication transitive»: 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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