---
title: From a side path a purple stork came forward with solemn gravity, tw… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics
description: From a side path a purple stork came forward with solemn gravity, twisted the long neck up and down to affected compliment, scraped with his thin legs behind him, and then walked resolutely before the forester and the conducting Moor, looking almost constantly back to see if they were following. Who
---

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# Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, Legends and Tales., part 14, sentence 73

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From a side path a purple stork came forward with solemn gravity, twisted the long neck up and down to affected compliment, scraped with his thin legs behind him, and then walked resolutely before the forester and the conducting Moor, looking almost constantly back to see if they were following.

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**Who acts:** purple stork, Forester · **What happens:** come forward, twist, scrape, walk, conduct, look · **To what, where:** side path, long neck, affected compliment, forester

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This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legends and Tales., part 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (purple stork, Forester), 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:pg74323:15:73
# text = From a side path a purple stork came forward with solemn gravity, twisted the long neck up and down to affected compliment, scraped with his thin legs behind him, and then walked resolutely before the forester and the conducting Moor, looking almost constantly back to see if they were following.
1	From	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	purple	purple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	stork	stork	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	solemn	solemn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	twisted	twist	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
18	up	up	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	down	down	ADV	RB	_	18	conj	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	affected	affected	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	compliment	compliment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
25	scraped	scrape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	acl	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
27	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
28	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obl	_	_
30	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
34	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	35	advmod	_	_
35	walked	walk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
36	resolutely	resolutely	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
37	before	before	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	forester	forester	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
40	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
42	conducting	conduct	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	43	amod	_	_
43	Moor	moor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
45	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	35	advcl	_	_
46	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	47	advmod	_	_
47	constantly	constantly	ADV	RB	_	48	advmod	_	_
48	back	back	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	_
49	to	to	PART	TO	_	50	mark	_	_
50	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	advcl	_	_
51	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	54	mark	_	_
52	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	nsubj	_	_
53	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	54	aux	_	_
54	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	50	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come forward** | past | a purple stork |  |  | a side path |  | with solemn gravity; forward *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from path=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **twist** | past | a purple stork *not said here* | the long neck |  | affected compliment |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent neck=Theme to compliment=Trajectory |
| 3 | **scrape** | participle |  | affected compliment *not said here* |  |  |  | with stork's thin legs behind stork | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V PP PP»: agent=Agent with leg=Instrument |
| 4 | **walk** | past | a purple stork *not said here* |  |  | the forester and the conducting Moor | then | resolutely *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before forester=Trajectory |
| 5 | **conduct** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **look** | gerund | a purple stork *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 7 | **see** | to-infinitive | a purple stork *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 8 | **follow** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · progressive | Forester |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Project Gutenberg book 74323 (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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