---
title: But whoever plucks the flower must hold it gently, for if it should… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: But whoever plucks the flower must hold it gently, for if it should be crushed, the scarlet stain, the Indians claim, could never be washed away. Who acts: whoever, flower, Indians. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XVI. Custer’s Heart, with its de
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, XVI. Custer’s Heart, sentence 10

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But whoever plucks the flower must hold it gently, for if it should be crushed, the scarlet stain, the Indians claim, could never be washed away.

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**Who acts:** whoever, flower, Indians · **What happens:** pluck, hold, crush, claim, not wash away · **To what, where:** plant, scarlet stain

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XVI. Custer’s Heart. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (whoever, flower, Indians), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg73136:85:10
# text = But whoever plucks the flower must hold it gently, for if it should be crushed, the scarlet stain, the Indians claim, could never be washed away.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	whoever	whoever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	plucks	pluck	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	flower	flower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	gently	gently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	crushed	crush	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	scarlet	scarlet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	stain	stain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	24	nsubj	_	_
24	claim	claim	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
27	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	29	advmod	_	_
28	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	washed	wash	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	parataxis	_	_
30	away	away	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pluck** | present | whoever |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hold** | must | the flower | plant |  |  |  | gently *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **crush** *a condition, not said to happen* | should · passive |  | plant |  |  |  | the scarlet stain *obl* | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 4 | **claim** *speech: other* | present | the Indians | the scarlet stain *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent stain=Topic |
| 5 | **not** **wash away** | could · passive |  |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V» |

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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:** «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Project Gutenberg book 73136 (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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