---
title: As for wealth, if it be not used for the benefit of others, it is li… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: As for wealth, if it be not used for the benefit of others, it is like lightning which for an instant stings the eye, and then flickers and vanishes. Who acts: wealth. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 16, sentence 35

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As for wealth, if it be not used for the benefit of others, it is like lightning which for an instant stings the eye, and then flickers and vanishes.

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**Who acts:** wealth · **What happens:** not use, be, sting, flicker, vanish · **To what, where:** wealth, lightning

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wealth), 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:pg74064:16:37
# text = As for wealth, if it be not used for the benefit of others, it is like lightning which for an instant stings the eye, and then flickers and vanishes.
1	As	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	3	case	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	wealth	wealth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	benefit	benefit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	like	like	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
20	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	obj	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
24	stings	sting	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	parataxis	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	30	advmod	_	_
30	flickers	flicker	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	parataxis	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	vanishes	vanish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	19	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **use** *a condition, not said to happen* | infinitive · passive | wealth *not said here* | wealth |  |  |  | for the benefit of others | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for benefit=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | present | wealth |  |  |  |  | like lightning; as wealth | tree rules |
| 3 | **sting** | present |  | lightning |  |  |  | for a instant; the eye *obj* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Stimulus which=Experiencer eye=Result |
| 4 | **flicker** | present |  |  |  |  | then |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **vanish** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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