---
title: Therefore if this wishing-tree which we possess, and which grants al… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Therefore if this wishing-tree which we possess, and which grants all desires, be employed for the benefit of others, we shall reap from it all the fruit that it can give. Who acts: wishing tree, we, tree. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16, with its 
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 16, sentence 36

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Therefore if this wishing-tree which we possess, and which grants all desires, be employed for the benefit of others, we shall reap from it all the fruit that it can give.

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**Who acts:** wishing tree, we, tree · **What happens:** possess, grant, employ, reap, give · **To what, where:** desires, benefit, fruit

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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 (wishing tree, we, tree), 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:pg74064:16:38
# text = Therefore if this wishing-tree which we possess, and which grants all desires, be employed for the benefit of others, we shall reap from it all the fruit that it can give.
1	Therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
3	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
4	wishing	wishing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obj	_	_
8	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	grants	grant	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
15	desires	desire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	parataxis	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	benefit	benefit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
26	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	reap	reap	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	conj	_	_
28	from	from	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obl	_	_
30	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	32	det:predet	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	parataxis	_	_
33	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
34	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
35	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
36	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | this wishing tree |  |  |  |  | which *obj*; we *nsubj*; therefore *property* | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot which=Theme |
| 2 | **grant** | present |  | all desires |  |  |  | which *nsubj* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent desire=Theme |
| 3 | **employ** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | for the benefit of others | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: for benefit=Eventuality |
| 4 | **reap** | shall | we |  |  | benefit |  | all fruit *parataxis* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent from it=Initial\_Location |
| 5 | **give** | can | tree | all fruit *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fruit=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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