---
title: Then Sakka said to him: “When, Reverend Sir, you need wood, just rub… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Sakka said to him: “When, Reverend Sir, you need wood, just rub this hatchet with your hand and say: ‘Please fetch me wood and make me a fire.’ Who acts: Sakka, eldest. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 9, with its dependency tree and the pragmatic
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 9, sentence 155

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Then Sakka said to him: “When, Reverend Sir, you need wood, just rub this hatchet with your hand and say: ‘Please fetch me wood and make me a fire.’

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**Who acts:** Sakka, eldest · **What happens:** say, need, rub, fetch, make · **To what, where:** eldest, Reverend Sir, hatchet, wood, Sakka, fire · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Sakka, eldest), 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:pg74064:9:165
# text = Then Sakka said to him: “When, Reverend Sir, you need wood, just rub this hatchet with your hand and say: ‘Please fetch me wood and make me a fire.’
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
2	Sakka	Sakka	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
7	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	Reverend	Reverend	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
15	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	just	just	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	rub	rub	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	14	parataxis	_	_
19	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	20	det	_	_
20	hatchet	hatchet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
27	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	Please	please	INTJ	UH	_	29	discourse	_	_
29	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	ccomp	_	_
30	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	_
31	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
33	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
34	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	33	obj	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Sakka |  | eldest *= eld* |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **need** *in a quote* | present | eldest *= eld* | Reverend Sir |  |  |  | wood *obj* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot wood=Theme |
| 3 | **rub** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | this hatchet |  |  |  | with your hand | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent hatchet=Destination with hand=Theme |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **fetch** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | wood | Sakka |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent i=Beneficiary wood=Theme |
| 6 | **make** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | a fire | Sakka |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset i=Beneficiary fire=Product |

<!-- .note -->
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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