---
title: So first the cub ate some of the flesh of the wise boar, and then th… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: So first the cub ate some of the flesh of the wise boar, and then the lion began to eat. Who acts: cub, lion. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 16, sentence 8

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So first the cub ate some of the flesh of the wise boar, and then the lion began to eat.

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**Who acts:** cub, lion · **What happens:** eat, begin · **To what, where:** some

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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 (cub, lion), 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:pg74064:16:8
# text = So first the cub ate some of the flesh of the wise boar, and then the lion began to eat.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cub	cub	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	flesh	flesh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	boar	boar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
16	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	19	advmod	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	lion	lion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
19	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past | the cub | some of the flesh of the wise boar |  |  |  | first *property* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=Patient |
| 2 | **begin** | past | the lion |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **eat** | to-infinitive | the lion *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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