---
title: The first was so clever that he was able to withdraw eggs from under… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: The first was so clever that he was able to withdraw eggs from under a sitting hen without in any way disturbing her, and without her being aware that the theft had been accomplished. Who acts: first, profession, way, China. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'C
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of the Three Thieves., sentence 3

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The first was so clever that he was able to withdraw eggs from under a sitting hen without in any way disturbing her, and without her being aware that the theft had been accomplished.

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**Who acts:** first, profession, way, China · **What happens:** be, withdraw, sit, disturb, accomplish · **To what, where:** eggs, China, theft

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This is a sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of the Three Thieves.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (first, profession, way, China), 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:pg75000:15:3
# text = The first was so clever that he was able to withdraw eggs from under a sitting hen without in any way disturbing her, and without her being aware that the theft had been accomplished.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	withdraw	withdraw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	under	under	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	amod	_	_
17	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
18	without	without	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	det	_	_
21	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
22	disturbing	disturb	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	21	acl	_	_
23	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
26	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
27	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
28	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	29	cop	_	_
29	aware	aware	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
30	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	35	mark	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	theft	theft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	35	aux:pass	_	_
35	accomplished	accomplish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the first |  |  |  |  | clever *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | profession |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **withdraw** | to-infinitive | profession *not said here* | eggs |  |  |  | from a sitting hen; without any way | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent egg=Theme from hen=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **sit** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **disturb** | gerund | any way *not said here* | China |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus she=Experiencer |
| 6 | **is** | gerund | China |  |  |  |  | aware *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **accomplish** | past · perfect · passive |  | the theft |  |  |  |  | vn complete-55.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

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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:** «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, Project Gutenberg book 75000 (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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