--- title: But the young people of Dorf Steckelnberg, at the foot of the lower… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics description: But the young people of Dorf Steckelnberg, at the foot of the lower adjacent mountain, on which lie the ruins of Schloss Steckelnburg, found their way easier; it was just the wild and savage character of the place that attracted them, and it was very seldom that a troop of merry boys did not choose --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/6/23/) [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/) / [Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/) / [Legends and Tales., part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/6/) / 23 # Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, Legends and Tales., part 5, sentence 23 But the young people of Dorf Steckelnberg, at the foot of the lower adjacent mountain, on which lie the ruins of Schloss Steckelnburg, found their way easier; it was just the wild and savage character of the place that attracted them, and it was very seldom that a troop of merry boys did not choose the lonely ruins as the scene of their games, and even timorous maidens ventured to approach the haunted walls in their search after berries and wild-flowers. **Who acts:** young people, mountain, place, troop, timorous maidens, ways · **What happens:** lie, find, be, attract, not choose, venture · **To what, where:** ruins, way, wild character, ways, lonely ruins, haunted walls This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legends and Tales., 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 (young people, mountain, place, troop), 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:pg74323:6:23 # text = But the young people of Dorf Steckelnberg, at the foot of the lower adjacent mountain, on which lie the ruins of Schloss Steckelnburg, found their way easier; it was just the wild and savage character of the place that attracted them, and it was very seldom that a troop of merry boys did not choose the lonely ruins as the scene of their games, and even timorous maidens ventured to approach the haunted walls in their search after berries and wild-flowers. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 nsubj _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 Dorf Dorf PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nmod _ _ 7 Steckelnberg Steckelnberg PROPN NNP Number=Sing 6 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 9 at at ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 foot foot NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 appos _ _ 12 of of ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 14 lower low ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 15 advmod _ _ 15 adjacent adjacent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 mountain mountain NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 18 on on ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 19 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 20 nsubj _ _ 20 lie lie VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 ruins ruin NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 obj _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 24 Schloss Schloss PROPN NNP Number=Sing 22 nmod _ _ 25 Steckelnburg Steckelnburg PROPN NNP Number=Sing 24 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 conj _ _ 28 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 29 nmod:poss _ _ 29 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obj _ _ 30 easier easy ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 27 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ; ; PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 33 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 cop _ _ 34 just just ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 36 wild wild ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 amod _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 savage savage ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 conj _ _ 39 character character NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obl _ _ 40 of of ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 place place NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nmod _ _ 43 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 44 nsubj _ _ 44 attracted attract VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 acl:relcl _ _ 45 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 47 and and CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 48 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 49 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 51 cop _ _ 50 very very ADV RB _ 51 advmod _ _ 51 seldom seldom ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 52 that that SCONJ IN _ 60 mark _ _ 53 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 54 troop troop NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 nsubj _ _ 55 of of ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 merry merry ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 amod _ _ 57 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 54 nmod _ _ 58 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 60 aux _ _ 59 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 60 advmod _ _ 60 choose choose VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 51 advcl _ _ 61 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 63 det _ _ 62 lonely lonely ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 63 amod _ _ 63 ruins ruin NOUN NNS Number=Plur 60 obj _ _ 64 as as ADP IN _ 66 case _ _ 65 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 66 det _ _ 66 scene scene NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 obl _ _ 67 of of ADP IN _ 69 case _ _ 68 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 69 nmod:poss _ _ 69 games game NOUN NNS Number=Plur 66 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 70 , , PUNCT , _ 75 punct _ _ 71 and and CCONJ CC _ 75 cc _ _ 72 even even ADV RB _ 74 advmod _ _ 73 timorous timorous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 74 amod _ _ 74 maidens maiden NOUN NNS Number=Plur 75 nsubj _ _ 75 ventured venture VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 conj _ _ 76 to to PART TO _ 77 mark _ _ 77 approach approach VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 75 xcomp _ _ 78 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 80 det _ _ 79 haunted haunt VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 80 amod _ _ 80 walls wall NOUN NNS Number=Plur 77 obj _ _ 81 in in ADP IN _ 83 case _ _ 82 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 83 nmod:poss _ _ 83 search search NOUN NN Number=Sing 77 obl _ _ 84 after after ADP IN _ 85 case _ _ 85 berries berry NOUN NNS Number=Plur 77 obl _ _ 86 and and CCONJ CC _ 89 cc _ _ 87 wild wild ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 89 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 88 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 87 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 89 flowers flower NOUN NNS Number=Plur 85 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 90 . . PUNCT . _ 20 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **lie** | present | the young people of Dorf | the ruins of Schloss | | | | which *nsubj* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location ruin=Theme | | 2 | **find** | past | the young people of Dorf *not said here* | ruins's way | | | | easy *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Topic | | 3 | **is a** | past | mountain | the wild character | | | | of the place | tree rules | | 4 | **attract** | past | the place | ways *= way* | | | | | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient | | 5 | **is** | past | mountain | | | | | seldom *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **not** **choose** | past · do-support | a troop of merry boys | the lonely ruins | | | | as the scene of ways's games | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ruin=Theme | | 7 | **venture** | past | timorous maidens | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 8 | **approach** | to-infinitive | timorous maidens *not said here* | the haunted walls | | ways's search | after berries and wild flowers | | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wall=Theme | | 9 | **haunt** | participle | | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 10 | **ruin** | | | Schloss | | | | | nom ruin «state transitive»: of=patient | | 11 | **search** | | ways *= way* | | | | | | nom search «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/6/22/) - next →: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/6/24/) - ↑ back to [Legends and Tales., part 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/6/)