--- title: And he said to his companion: “Of a truth, Vāsuki, king of the snake… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics description: And he said to his companion: “Of a truth, Vāsuki, king of the snakes, is to be pitied, for that, like a coward, he delivers with his own hand into the hands of his most bitter enemy the snakes that are his subjects. Who acts: Jīmūta, snakes. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Bu --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/16/90/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The grateful elephant](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/) / [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/16/) / 90 # The grateful elephant, Opening, part 16, sentence 90 And he said to his companion: “Of a truth, Vāsuki, king of the snakes, is to be pitied, for that, like a coward, he delivers with his own hand into the hands of his most bitter enemy the snakes that are his subjects. **Who acts:** Jīmūta, snakes · **What happens:** say, pity, deliver, be · **To what, where:** companion, that, hands, subjects · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Jīmūta, snakes), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg74064:16:94 # text = And he said to his companion: “Of a truth, Vāsuki, king of the snakes, is to be pitied, for that, like a coward, he delivers with his own hand into the hands of his most bitter enemy the snakes that are his subjects. 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 3 cc _ _ 2 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 to to ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 6 nmod:poss _ _ 6 companion companion NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 : : PUNCT : _ 11 punct _ _ 8 “ " PUNCT `` _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 9 Of of ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 truth truth NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 13 Vāsuki Vāsuki PROPN NNP Number=Sing 11 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 15 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 appos _ _ 16 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 snakes snake NOUN NNS Number=Plur 15 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 20 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 21 to to PART TO _ 23 mark _ _ 22 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 23 aux:pass _ _ 23 pitied pity VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 11 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 25 for for ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 26 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 23 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 28 like like ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 coward coward NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 delivers deliver VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 34 with with ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 35 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 36 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 amod _ _ 37 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obl _ _ 38 into into ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 obl _ _ 41 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 42 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 45 nmod:poss _ _ 43 most most ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 45 amod _ _ 44 bitter bitter ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 45 amod _ _ 45 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nmod _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 snakes snake NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obj _ _ 48 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 51 nsubj _ _ 49 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 51 cop _ _ 50 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 51 nmod:poss _ _ 51 subjects subject NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Jīmūta | | Jīmūta's companion | | | a truth *parataxis* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to companion=Recipient clause=Topic | | 2 | **pity** *in a quote* | present · passive | Jīmūta *not said here* | that | | | | like a coward | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: that=Stimulus | | 3 | **deliver** *in a quote* | present | Jīmūta | | | the hands of Jīmūta's most bitter enemy the snakes | | with Jīmūta's own hand | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | the snakes | Jīmūta's subjects | | | | Jīmūta *nmod:poss* | tree rules | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 89](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/16/89/) - next →: [sentence 91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/16/91/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/16/)