--- title: They could not rid themselves of their new forms; there was no use i… — The Green Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: They could not rid themselves of their new forms; there was no use in returning to the town and saying who they were; for who would believe a stork who announced that he was a Caliph; and even if they did believe him, would the people of Bagdad consent to let a stork rule over them? Who acts: Mu, us --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/7/83/) [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 Story of Caliph Stork](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/7/) / 83 # The Green Fairy Book, The Story of Caliph Stork, sentence 83 They could not rid themselves of their new forms; there was no use in returning to the town and saying who they were; for who would believe a stork who announced that he was a Caliph; and even if they did believe him, would the people of Bagdad consent to let a stork rule over them? **Who acts:** Mu, use, stork · **What happens:** not rid, be, return, say, believe, announce · **To what, where:** Mu, stork, Caliph, use, stork rule · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Green Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Story of Caliph Stork. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Mu, use, stork), 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:pg7277:7:83 # text = They could not rid themselves of their new forms; there was no use in returning to the town and saying who they were; for who would believe a stork who announced that he was a Caliph; and even if they did believe him, would the people of Bagdad consent to let a stork rule over them? 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 rid rid VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 5 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 4 obj _ _ 6 of of ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 7 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 9 nmod:poss _ _ 8 new new ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 forms form NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 ; ; PUNCT : _ 12 punct _ _ 11 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 12 expl _ _ 12 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 13 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 14 det _ _ 14 use use NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 15 in in SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 16 returning return VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 14 acl _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 town town NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 21 saying say VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 16 conj _ _ 22 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 21 obj _ _ 23 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 24 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 25 ; ; PUNCT : _ 29 punct _ _ 26 for for SCONJ IN _ 29 mark _ _ 27 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 29 nsubj _ _ 28 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 29 believe believe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 parataxis _ _ 30 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 stork stork NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obj _ _ 32 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 33 nsubj _ _ 33 announced announce VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 acl:relcl _ _ 34 that that SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj _ _ 36 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 cop _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 Caliph caliph NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 39 ; ; PUNCT : _ 45 punct _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 41 even even ADV RB _ 45 advmod _ _ 42 if if SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 43 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 44 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 45 believe believe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 conj _ _ 46 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 48 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 50 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obl _ _ 51 of of ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 52 Bagdad bagdad NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 compound _ _ 53 consent consent NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 nmod _ _ 54 to to PART TO _ 55 mark _ _ 55 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 ccomp _ _ 56 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 58 det _ _ 57 stork stork NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 compound _ _ 58 rule rule NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 obj _ _ 59 over over ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 60 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 55 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 61 ? ? PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **rid** | could | Mu | Mu | | | | of Mu's new forms | vn deprive-10.6.2 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent themselves=Source of form=Theme | | 2 | **be** | past | no use | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **return** | gerund | no use *not said here* | | | | | to the town *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to town=Result | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | no use *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **is a** | past | Mu | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **believe** | would | | a stork | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stork=Stimulus | | 7 | **announce** *speech: other* | past | a stork | | | | | | vn order-58.3 «NP V S»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **is a** | past | use | a Caliph | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **believe** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · do-support | Mu | use | | | | the people of Bagdad consent *obl* | tree rules | | 10 | **let** | to-infinitive | | a stork rule | | | | over Mu | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=Theme | | 11 | **form** | | Mu | | | | | | nom form «communication transitive»: poss=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 82](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/7/82/) - next →: [sentence 84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/7/84/) - ↑ back to [The Story of Caliph Stork](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/7/)