---
title: When the Emperor heard that these were his pea-hen’s eggs he was ver… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: When the Emperor heard that these were his pea-hen’s eggs he was very much pleased, and gave orders that they should at once be taken back to the nest, and the hatching continued; and telling the first Thief to stand back, he enquired of the second what he wished to say. Who acts: Emperor, eggs, hat
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of the Three Thieves., sentence 54

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When the Emperor heard that these were his pea-hen’s eggs he was very much pleased, and gave orders that they should at once be taken back to the nest, and the hatching continued; and telling the first Thief to stand back, he enquired of the second what he wished to say.

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**Who acts:** Emperor, eggs, hatching · **What happens:** hear, be, give, take back, continue, tell · **To what, where:** Emperor, orders, first Thief · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (Emperor, eggs, hatching), 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:pg75000:15:54
# text = When the Emperor heard that these were his pea-hen’s eggs he was very much pleased, and gave orders that they should at once be taken back to the nest, and the hatching continued; and telling the first Thief to stand back, he enquired of the second what he wished to say.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	advcl	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
6	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	8	det	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	pea	pea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	’s	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
16	very	very	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	much	much	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	pleased	pleased	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
22	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obj	_	_
23	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
25	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	advcl	_	_
26	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
27	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	29	advmod	_	_
28	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	advcl	_	_
30	back	back	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
31	to	to	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
35	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	hatching	hatching	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nsubj	_	_
38	continued	continue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	50	punct	_	_
40	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
41	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	50	advcl	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	44	amod	_	_
44	Thief	thief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	_
45	to	to	PART	TO	_	46	mark	_	_
46	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	acl	_	_
47	back	back	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
49	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	nsubj	_	_
50	enquired	enquire	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	conj	_	_
51	of	of	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	50	obl	_	_
54	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	56	obj	_	_
55	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	nsubj	_	_
56	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	50	conj	_	_
57	to	to	PART	TO	_	58	mark	_	_
58	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	56	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the Emperor |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | Emperor |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | past | Emperor's pea hen's eggs |  |  |  |  | Emperor *nsubj*; pleased *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **give** | past |  | orders |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent order=Theme |
| 5 | **take back** | infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | to the nest *result*; once *property* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: to nest=Result |
| 6 | **continue** | past | the hatching |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | Emperor *not said here* | the first Thief |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent thief=Recipient |
| 8 | **stand back** | to-infinitive | Emperor *not said here* | the first Thief *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **enquire** *speech: other* | past | Emperor |  |  |  |  | of the second | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent of second=Recipient |
| 10 | **wish** | past | Emperor |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | tree rules |
| 11 | **say** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Emperor *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

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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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