---
title: King,” replied the Mouse, “you must know that this year our crops ha… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: King,” replied the Mouse, “you must know that this year our crops have fallen short, and we are threatened with a famine unless we can borrow sufficient grain to carry us through the winter; so I, who am King of the Mice, have come here to ask you if you can help us in this matter. Who acts: King, y
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Country of the Mice., sentence 12

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King,” replied the Mouse, “you must know that this year our crops have fallen short, and we are threatened with a famine unless we can borrow sufficient grain to carry us through the winter; so I, who am King of the Mice, have come here to ask you if you can help us in this matter.

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**Who acts:** King, you, we, I · **What happens:** reply, know, fall, threaten, borrow, carry · **To what, where:** Mouse, crops, we, sufficient grain, us, King · **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 Country of the Mice.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (King, you, we, I), 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:pg75000:20:12
# text = King,” replied the Mouse, “you must know that this year our crops have fallen short, and we are threatened with a famine unless we can borrow sufficient grain to carry us through the winter; so I, who am King of the Mice, have come here to ask you if you can help us in this matter.
1	King	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
4	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
13	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	14	det	_	_
14	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl:unmarked	_	_
15	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	crops	crop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	ccomp	_	_
19	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
23	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	threatened	threaten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
25	with	with	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	famine	famine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
28	unless	unless	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
29	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	borrow	borrow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	advcl	_	_
32	sufficient	sufficient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	grain	grain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	_
34	to	to	PART	TO	_	35	mark	_	_
35	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	advcl	_	_
36	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	obj	_	_
37	through	through	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
41	so	so	ADV	RB	_	52	advmod	_	_
42	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	46	nsubj	_	_
45	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	46	cop	_	_
46	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	Mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
51	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	parataxis	_	_
53	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	52	advmod	_	_
54	to	to	PART	TO	_	55	mark	_	_
55	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	52	advcl	_	_
56	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	55	iobj	_	_
57	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	60	mark	_	_
58	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	60	nsubj	_	_
59	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	60	aux	_	_
60	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	55	advcl	_	_
61	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	60	obj	_	_
62	in	in	ADP	IN	_	64	case	_	_
63	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	64	det	_	_
64	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | King | the Mouse |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | must | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **fall** | present · perfect · passive |  | our crops |  |  | year | short *property* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 4 | **threaten** | present · passive |  | we |  |  |  | with a famine | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 5 | **borrow** *a condition, not said to happen* | can | we | sufficient grain |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grain=Theme |
| 6 | **carry** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | us |  |  | winter |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent we=Theme |
| 7 | **is a** | present |  | King |  |  |  | who *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 8 | **come** | present · perfect | I |  |  | here |  | of the Mice | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme of mouse=Initial\_Location |
| 9 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  | you |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient |
| 10 | **help** *a condition, not said to happen* | can | you |  | us | this matter |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent we=Beneficiary |

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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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