--- title: At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the old publi… — English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the stolen ass and table. Who act --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/45/42/) [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/) / [English Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/) / [The Ass, the Table, and the Stick](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/45/) / 42 # English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick, sentence 42 At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the stolen ass and table. **Who acts:** cudgel, arms, man, stick, Jack · **What happens:** fly, batter, rap, bruise, tickle, fall · **To what, where:** word, old publican, head, ribs, floor, prostrate man This is a sentence of «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cudgel, arms, man, stick), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg7439:45:42 # text = At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the stolen ass and table. 1 At at ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 cudgel cudgel NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 6 flew fly VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 from from ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 9 nmod:poss _ _ 9 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 battered batter VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 publican publican NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ _ 15 on on ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 17 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 19 rapped rap VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 20 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 21 nmod:poss _ _ 21 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 23 bruised bruise VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 conj _ _ 24 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 arms arm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 nsubj _ _ 26 tickled tickle VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 ccomp _ _ 27 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 28 nmod:poss _ _ 28 ribs rib NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 30 till till SCONJ IN _ 32 mark _ _ 31 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 32 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 conj _ _ 33 groaning groan VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 32 xcomp _ _ 34 on on ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 floor floor NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 ; ; PUNCT : _ 41 punct _ _ 38 still still ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 stick stick NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 nsubj _ _ 41 belaboured belabour VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 43 prostrate prostrate ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 46 nor nor CCONJ CC Polarity=Neg 49 cc _ _ 47 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 49 aux _ _ 48 Jack Jack PROPN NNP Number=Sing 49 nsubj _ _ 49 call call VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 41 parataxis _ _ 50 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 obj _ _ 51 off off ADP RP _ 49 compound:prt _ _ 52 till till SCONJ IN _ 55 mark _ _ 53 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 55 nsubj _ _ 54 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 55 aux _ _ 55 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 49 advcl _ _ 56 back back ADV RB _ 55 advmod _ _ 57 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 59 det _ _ 58 stolen steal VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 59 amod _ _ 59 ass ass NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 obj _ _ 60 and and CCONJ CC _ 61 cc _ _ 61 table table NOUN NN Number=Sing 59 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 62 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **fly** | past | the cudgel | | | the word | | from man's hand | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at word=Location | | 2 | **batter** | past | the cudgel *not said here* | the old publican | | | | on the back | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent publican=Instrument on back=Patient | | 3 | **rap** | past | the cudgel *not said here* | man's head | | | | | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient | | 4 | **bruise** | past | the cudgel *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **tickle** | past | man's arms | man's ribs | | | | | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rib=Experiencer | | 6 | **fall** | past | man | | | | | | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 7 | **groan** | gerund | man *not said here* | | | the floor | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on floor=Location | | 8 | **belabour** | past | the stick | the prostrate man | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **call off** *speech: assert* | would | Jack | head | | | | | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient | | 10 | **get back** | past · perfect | man | the stolen ass and table | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ass=Stimulus | | 11 | **steal** | participle | | | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | 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:** «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7439 (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 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/45/41/) - next →: [sentence 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/45/43/) - ↑ back to [The Ass, the Table, and the Stick](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/45/)