---
title: Instead of answering he began to laugh, and I flew into such a rage… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Instead of answering he began to laugh, and I flew into such a rage that I drew a pistol and fired at him; but the bullet rebounded from his breast and struck my horse in the forehead. Who acts: stranger, I, bullet. A sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crystal Coffin, with its de
---

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# The Green Fairy Book, The Crystal Coffin, sentence 70

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Instead of answering he began to laugh, and I flew into such a rage that I drew a pistol and fired at him; but the bullet rebounded from his breast and struck my horse in the forehead.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** stranger, I, bullet · **What happens:** answer, begin, laugh, fly, draw, fire · **To what, where:** rage, breast, horse, forehead

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crystal Coffin. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (stranger, I, bullet), 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:pg7277:45:70
# text = Instead of answering he began to laugh, and I flew into such a rage that I drew a pistol and fired at him; but the bullet rebounded from his breast and struck my horse in the forehead.
1	Instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	3	mark	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	answering	answer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	flew	fly	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
12	into	into	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	15	det:predet	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	rage	rage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
16	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	obj	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	drew	draw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	pistol	pistol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	fired	fire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	conj	_	_
23	at	at	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	bullet	bullet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
29	rebounded	rebound	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
30	from	from	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	32	nmod:poss	_	_
32	breast	breast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
34	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	conj	_	_
35	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	_
37	in	in	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	forehead	forehead	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **answer** *speech: assert* | gerund | stranger *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **begin** | past | stranger |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **laugh** | to-infinitive | stranger *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **fly** | past | I |  |  |  |  | into such rage *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme into rage=Result |
| 5 | **draw** | past | I | such rage |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent that=Beneficiary pistol=Result |
| 6 | **fire** | participle | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at stranger | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent at he=Destination |
| 7 | **rebound** | past | the bullet |  |  | stranger's breast |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **strike** | past | the bullet *not said here* | my horse |  | the forehead |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent horse=Instrument |

<!-- .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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