--- title: This, of course, was a comparatively easy matter, for the Future Bud… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics description: This, of course, was a comparatively easy matter, for the Future Buddha, in his previous states of existence, was believed to have exhibited the qualities of wisdom, courage, and generosity, and there are few of the stories in which at least one of the characters does not exhibit one or another of t --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/2/36/) [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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/2/) / 36 # The grateful elephant, Opening, part 2, sentence 36 This, of course, was a comparatively easy matter, for the Future Buddha, in his previous states of existence, was believed to have exhibited the qualities of wisdom, courage, and generosity, and there are few of the stories in which at least one of the characters does not exhibit one or another of these qualities. **Who acts:** This, few · **What happens:** be, believe, exhibit, not exhibit · **To what, where:** easy matter, qualities, one This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, few), 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:pg74064:2:38 # text = This, of course, was a comparatively easy matter, for the Future Buddha, in his previous states of existence, was believed to have exhibited the qualities of wisdom, courage, and generosity, and there are few of the stories in which at least one of the characters does not exhibit one or another of these qualities. 1 This this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 10 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 course course NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 8 comparatively comparatively ADV RB _ 9 advmod _ _ 9 easy easy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 12 for for ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 14 Future Future PROPN NNP Number=Sing 15 compound _ _ 15 Buddha Buddha PROPN NNP Number=Sing 10 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 17 in in ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 18 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 20 nmod:poss _ _ 19 previous previous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 states state NOUN NNS Number=Plur 15 conj _ _ 21 of of ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 22 existence existence NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 aux:pass _ _ 25 believed believe VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 26 to to PART TO _ 28 mark _ _ 27 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 28 aux _ _ 28 exhibited exhibit VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 25 xcomp _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 qualities quality NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 obj _ _ 31 of of ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 32 wisdom wisdom NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 34 courage courage NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 37 cc _ _ 37 generosity generosity NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 40 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 41 expl _ _ 41 are be VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 42 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 56 nsubj _ _ 43 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 stories story NOUN NNS Number=Plur 42 nmod _ _ 46 in in ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 47 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 50 obl _ _ 48 at at ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 49 least least ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 50 nmod _ _ 50 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 45 appos _ _ 51 of of ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 52 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 53 det _ _ 53 characters character NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 nmod _ _ 54 does do AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 56 aux _ _ 55 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 56 advmod _ _ 56 exhibit exhibit VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 41 ccomp _ _ 57 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 56 obj _ _ 58 or or CCONJ CC _ 59 cc _ _ 59 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 57 nmod _ _ 60 of of ADP IN _ 62 case _ _ 61 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 62 det _ _ 62 qualities quality NOUN NNS Number=Plur 59 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 63 . . PUNCT . _ 25 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | This of course | a easy matter | | | | the Future Buddha and Buddha's previous states of existence *appos* | tree rules | | 2 | **believe** | past · passive | | a easy matter | | | | generosity *parataxis* | tree rules | | 3 | **exhibit** | to-infinitive · perfect | | the qualities of wisdom and courage | | | | | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quality=Theme | | 4 | **be** | present | | | | there | | | tree rules | | 5 | **not** **exhibit** | present · do-support | few of the stories | one another of this qualities | | | | | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme | 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 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/2/35/) - next →: [sentence 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/2/37/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/2/)