--- title: ‘It appeared that they were working into the tapestry all the storie… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: ‘It appeared that they were working into the tapestry all the stories the Fairies liked best, and they began to try and teach me to help them, but from the first class, where they tried me to begin with, I sank lower and lower, and not even the most simple stitches could I learn. Who acts: It, birds --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/38/82/) [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 Vivien and the Princess Placida…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/38/) / 82 # The Green Fairy Book, Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida, part 3, sentence 82 ‘It appeared that they were working into the tapestry all the stories the Fairies liked best, and they began to try and teach me to help them, but from the first class, where they tried me to begin with, I sank lower and lower, and not even the most simple stitches could I learn. **Who acts:** It, birds, Fairies, I, simple stitches · **What happens:** appear, work, like, begin, try, teach · **To what, where:** stories, tapestry, best, me, Fairies, first class This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, birds, Fairies, I), 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:pg7277:38:82 # text = ‘It appeared that they were working into the tapestry all the stories the Fairies liked best, and they began to try and teach me to help them, but from the first class, where they tried me to begin with, I sank lower and lower, and not even the most simple stitches could I learn. 1 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 appeared appear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 that that SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 5 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 working work VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 8 into into ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 tapestry tapestry NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ 11 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 13 det:predet _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 stories story NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 obj _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 Fairies Fairy PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 16 nsubj _ _ 16 liked like VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 acl:relcl _ _ 17 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 16 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 19 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 20 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 21 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 22 to to PART TO _ 23 mark _ _ 23 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 xcomp _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 25 teach teach VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 conj _ _ 26 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 25 obj _ _ 27 to to PART TO _ 28 mark _ _ 28 help help VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 xcomp _ _ 29 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 31 but but CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 32 from from ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 34 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 35 amod _ _ 35 class class NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 37 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 39 advmod _ _ 38 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 39 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 acl:relcl _ _ 40 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 39 obj _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 begin begin VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 xcomp _ _ 43 with with ADP IN _ 42 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 45 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 sank sink VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 advcl _ _ 47 lower low ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 46 xcomp _ _ 48 and and CCONJ CC _ 49 cc _ _ 49 lower low ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 47 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 50 , , PUNCT , _ 60 punct _ _ 51 and and CCONJ CC _ 60 cc _ _ 52 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 60 advmod _ _ 53 even even ADV RB _ 57 advmod _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 55 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 56 advmod _ _ 56 simple simple ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 amod _ _ 57 stitches stitch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 60 nsubj _ _ 58 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 60 aux _ _ 59 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 60 nsubj _ _ 60 learn learn VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 61 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **appear** | past | It | | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **work** | past · progressive | birds *= bird* | all stories | | the tapestry | | | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: agent=Agent story=Material into tapestry=Product | | 3 | **like** | past | the Fairies | best | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot good=Theme | | 4 | **begin** | past | Fairies *= fairy* | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **try** | to-infinitive | Fairies *= fairy* *not said here* | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **teach** *speech: other* | infinitive | Fairies *= fairy* *not said here* | | me | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic | | 7 | **help** | to-infinitive | Fairies *= fairy* *not said here* | Fairies *= fairy* | | | | | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary | | 8 | **try** | past | birds *= bird* | me | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **begin** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | birds *= bird* *not said here* | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 10 | **sink** | past | I | | | the first class | | low *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 11 | **not** **learn** | could | the simple stitches | | | | | | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=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 81](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/38/81/) - next →: [sentence 83](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/38/83/) - ↑ back to [Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/38/)