---
title: There will not be a single rut in the road over which I travel; my o… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: There will not be a single rut in the road over which I travel; my oxen will eat grass which has not been touched; my men will have leaves for curry which have not been touched; the water will be clear; I can sell my goods at whatever price I choose to set.” Who acts: single rut, I, oxen, men. A sen
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 15, sentence 21

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There will not be a single rut in the road over which I travel; my oxen will eat grass which has not been touched; my men will have leaves for curry which have not been touched; the water will be clear; I can sell my goods at whatever price I choose to set.”

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**Who acts:** single rut, I, oxen, men, water · **What happens:** not be, travel, eat, not touch, have, be · **To what, where:** road, grass, leaves, curry, goods, price

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (single rut, I, oxen, men), 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:pg74064:15:21
# text = There will not be a single rut in the road over which I travel; my oxen will eat grass which has not been touched; my men will have leaves for curry which have not been touched; the water will be clear; I can sell my goods at whatever price I choose to set.”
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	4	expl	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	rut	rut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	over	over	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	travel	travel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
16	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	oxen	ox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
18	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
20	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	25	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	25	advmod	_	_
24	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	25	aux:pass	_	_
25	touched	touch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
27	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	nsubj	_	_
29	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	conj	_	_
31	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	obj	_	_
32	for	for	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	curry	curry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
34	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	38	nsubj:pass	_	_
35	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
36	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	38	advmod	_	_
37	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	38	aux:pass	_	_
38	touched	touch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	33	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nsubj	_	_
42	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
43	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	cop	_	_
44	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
46	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
47	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
48	sell	sell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	conj	_	_
49	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	50	nmod:poss	_	_
50	goods	goods	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	48	obj	_	_
51	at	at	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	53	nsubj	_	_
53	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obl	_	_
54	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
55	choose	choose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	53	acl:relcl	_	_
56	to	to	PART	TO	_	57	mark	_	_
57	set	set	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	55	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **be** | future | a single rut in the road |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **travel** | present | I |  |  | the road |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over which=Trajectory |
| 3 | **eat** | future | my oxen | grass |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |
| 4 | **not** **touch** | present · perfect · passive |  | grass |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Theme |
| 5 | **have** | future | my men | leaves |  |  |  | for curry | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Patient |
| 6 | **not** **touch** | present · perfect · passive |  | curry |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Theme |
| 7 | **is** | future | the water |  |  |  |  | clear *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **sell** | can | I | my goods |  | price  whatever |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent goods=Theme at price=Asset |
| 9 | **choose** | present | I | price  whatever *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **set** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 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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