---
title: In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, there lived in a c… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, there lived in a certain little village a certain Brahman who knew a charm called the Vedabbha charm. Who acts: Brahmadatta, certain Brahman, charm. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 8, with its dependen
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 8, sentence 79

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In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, there lived in a certain little village a certain Brahman who knew a charm called the Vedabbha charm.

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**Who acts:** Brahmadatta, certain Brahman, charm · **What happens:** rule, live, know, call · **To what, where:** Benāres, certain little village, charm, Vedabbha charm · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (Brahmadatta, certain Brahman, charm), 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:pg74064:8:81
# text = In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, there lived in a certain little village a certain Brahman who knew a charm called the Vedabbha charm.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
3	past	past	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
5	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
6	Brahmadatta	Brahmadatta	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	ruled	rule	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Benāres	Benāres	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	12	expl	_	_
12	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	Brahman	brahman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	_
21	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	22	nsubj	_	_
22	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	acl:relcl	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	charm	charm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	acl	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	Vedabbha	Vedabbha	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	compound	_	_
28	charm	charm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rule** | past | Brahmadatta |  |  | Benāres | time |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **live** | past | Brahmadatta *not said here* |  |  | a certain little village; there |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in village=Location |
| 3 | **know** | past | a certain Brahman | a charm |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer charm=Stimulus |
| 4 | **call** | participle | a charm *not said here* | the Vedabbha charm |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent charm=Recipient |

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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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