---
title: When the three Thieves heard these words they were greatly frightene… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: When the three Thieves heard these words they were greatly frightened, and bowing down before the Emperor they awaited his commands. Who acts: three Thieves, words, Thieves, Emperor. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of the Three Thieves., wi
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of the Three Thieves., sentence 68

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When the three Thieves heard these words they were greatly frightened, and bowing down before the Emperor they awaited his commands.

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**Who acts:** three Thieves, words, Thieves, Emperor · **What happens:** hear, frighten, bow down, await, command · **To what, where:** words, Thieves, commands · **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 (three Thieves, words, Thieves, Emperor), 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:pg75000:15:68
# text = When the three Thieves heard these words they were greatly frightened, and bowing down before the Emperor they awaited his commands.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	Thieves	thief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
10	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
14	bowing	bow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	20	csubj	_	_
15	down	down	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
16	before	before	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	awaited	await	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	commands	command	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the three Thieves | this words |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus |
| 2 | **frighten** | past · passive | this words *not said here* | Thieves *= thief* |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 3 | **bow down** | gerund |  |  |  |  | before the Emperor | down *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before emperor=Location |
| 4 | **await** | past | Thieves *= thief* | Emperor's commands |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **command** |  | Emperor |  |  |  |  |  | nom command «communication transitive»: poss=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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