---
title: Said the tiny quail: “When this solitary elephant has gone blind and… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Said the tiny quail: “When this solitary elephant has gone blind and seeks water to drink, then please squat on the mountain-top and croak; and when he has climbed to the top of the mountain, then please hop down and croak at the bottom. Who acts: tiny quail, solitary elephant, Frog. A sentence of «
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 5, sentence 76

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Said the tiny quail: “When this solitary elephant has gone blind and seeks water to drink, then please squat on the mountain-top and croak; and when he has climbed to the top of the mountain, then please hop down and croak at the bottom.

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**Who acts:** tiny quail, solitary elephant, Frog · **What happens:** say, go, seek, drink, squat, climb · **To what, where:** water, mountain top, top, bottom · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (tiny quail, solitary elephant, Frog), 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:pg74064:5:78
# text = Said the tiny quail: “When this solitary elephant has gone blind and seeks water to drink, then please squat on the mountain-top and croak; and when he has climbed to the top of the mountain, then please hop down and croak at the bottom.
1	Said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	quail	quail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	12	mark	_	_
8	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
9	solitary	solitary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	1	parataxis	_	_
13	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	seeks	seek	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
16	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	22	advmod	_	_
21	please	please	INTJ	UH	_	22	discourse	_	_
22	squat	squat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	conj	_	_
23	on	on	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
25	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
29	croak	croak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	35	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
32	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	35	advmod	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
34	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	climbed	climb	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	1	parataxis	_	_
36	to	to	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
43	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	45	advmod	_	_
44	please	please	INTJ	UH	_	45	discourse	_	_
45	hop	hop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	conj	_	_
46	down	down	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
48	croak	croak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	conj	_	_
49	at	at	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the tiny quail |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** *in a quote* | present · perfect | this solitary elephant |  |  |  |  | blind *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **seek** *in a quote* | present | the tiny quail *not said here* | water |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **drink** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | the tiny quail *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **squat** *in a quote* | infinitive | the tiny quail *not said here* |  |  | the mountain top and croak | then |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on top=Location |
| 6 | **climb** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Frog |  |  | the top of the mountain |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to top=Destination |
| 7 | **hop** *in a quote* | infinitive | Frog *not said here* |  |  | the bottom | then | down *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at bottom=Trajectory |

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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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