---
title: We may therefore feel quite certain that such remarkable parables as… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: We may therefore feel quite certain that such remarkable parables as _Brahmadatta and the prince_ (6), _Blind men and elephant_ (13), and _The birds_ (16) were actually related by Gotama himself, in substantially the same form as that in which we now have them. Who acts: We, Gotama. A sentence of «T
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 1, sentence 254

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We may therefore feel quite certain that such remarkable parables as \_Brahmadatta and the prince\_ (6), \_Blind men and elephant\_ (13), and \_The birds\_ (16) were actually related by Gotama himself, in substantially the same form as that in which we now have them.

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**Who acts:** We, Gotama · **What happens:** feel, relate, have · **To what, where:** such remarkable parables, PARABLES, same form

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We, Gotama), 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:pg74064:1:272
# text = We may therefore feel quite certain that such remarkable parables as _Brahmadatta and the prince_ (6), _Blind men and elephant_ (13), and _The birds_ (16) were actually related by Gotama himself, in substantially the same form as that in which we now have them.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
8	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	remarkable	remarkable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	parables	parable	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	Brahmadatta	Brahmadatta	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	19	punct	_	_
18	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	6	6	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	Blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	29	punct	_	_
28	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	13	13	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
33	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	35	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	10	punct	_	_
37	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	16	16	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	38	punct	_	_
40	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux:pass	_	_
41	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
42	related	relate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
43	by	by	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
44	Gotama	Gotama	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	_
45	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	42	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	_
47	in	in	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
48	substantially	substantially	ADV	RB	_	51	advmod	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
50	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	51	amod	_	_
51	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
52	as	as	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
53	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	51	nmod	_	_
54	in	in	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	58	nmod	_	_
56	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	58	nsubj	_	_
57	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	58	advmod	_	_
58	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	51	parataxis	_	_
59	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	58	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | may | We |  |  |  |  | the same form as that *parataxis*; certain, therefore *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **relate** | past · passive | Gotama | such remarkable parables as Brahmadatta and the prince and Blind men and elephant and the birds |  |  |  | Gotama *obl*; actually *property* | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | present | we | PARABLES *= parable* |  | the same form as that | now |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

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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:** «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Project Gutenberg book 74064 (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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