--- title: Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in he… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics description: Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in hell, in the animal kingdom, in the region of the fathers, in the world of the fallen deities; should you be reborn in the world of men, you will live but a short time and soon pass away.” Who acts: crime, you. A sentence of «The grat --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/8/61/) [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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/8/) / 61 # The grateful elephant, Opening, part 8, sentence 61 Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in hell, in the animal kingdom, in the region of the fathers, in the world of the fallen deities; should you be reborn in the world of men, you will live but a short time and soon pass away.” **Who acts:** crime, you · **What happens:** take, mean, fall, be, live, pass away · **To what, where:** life, rebirth, world This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (crime, you), 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:pg74064:8:61 # text = Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in hell, in the animal kingdom, in the region of the fathers, in the world of the fallen deities; should you be reborn in the world of men, you will live but a short time and soon pass away.” 1 Such such DET PDT PronType=Ind 3 det:predet _ _ 2 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 crime crime NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj _ _ 4 as as SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 5 taking take VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 3 acl _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 life life NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 living living ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 beings being NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 nmod _ _ 11 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 12 rebirth rebirth NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ _ 13 in in ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 hell hell NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 in in ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 18 animal animal NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 compound _ _ 19 kingdom kingdom NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 21 in in ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 region region NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 appos _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 fathers father NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 in in ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nmod _ _ 31 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 33 fallen fall VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 34 amod _ _ 34 deities deity NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 ; ; PUNCT : _ 39 punct _ _ 36 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 37 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 38 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 39 cop _ _ 39 reborn reborn ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 parataxis _ _ 40 in in ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 43 of of ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 44 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 42 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 46 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 47 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 48 aux _ _ 48 live live VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 parataxis _ _ 49 but but CCONJ CC _ 52 cc _ _ 50 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 51 short short ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 52 amod _ _ 52 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 conj _ _ 53 and and CCONJ CC _ 55 cc _ _ 54 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 55 advmod _ _ 55 pass pass VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 48 conj _ _ 56 away away ADV RB _ 55 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 57 . . PUNCT . _ 39 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 58 ” " PUNCT '' _ 11 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | gerund | such crime *not said here* | the life of living beings | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme | | 2 | **mean** | present | such crime | rebirth | | | | in hell; the animal kingdom *parataxis* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot rebirth=Theme in hell=Attribute | | 3 | **fall** | participle | | | | | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **is** | should | you | | | the world of men | | reborn *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **live** | future | you | | | | | | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **pass away** | present | you *not said here* | | | | | away, soon *property* | vn die-42.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | 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 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/8/60/) - next →: [sentence 62](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/8/62/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/8/)