--- title: The Boy was rather alarmed at this request of the King’s, for he did… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics description: The Boy was rather alarmed at this request of the King’s, for he did not in the least know how he should set about defeating the foe, but he allowed no sign of hesitation to appear in his manner, and he answered boldly that he was prepared to undertake the job; whereupon the King presented him with --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/25/3/) [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/) / [Folk tales from Tibet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/) / [How He Defeated the Enemy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/25/) / 3 # Folk tales from Tibet, How He Defeated the Enemy., sentence 3 The Boy was rather alarmed at this request of the King’s, for he did not in the least know how he should set about defeating the foe, but he allowed no sign of hesitation to appear in his manner, and he answered boldly that he was prepared to undertake the job; whereupon the King presented him with a magnificent charger and begged him to do his best. **Who acts:** Boy, least, sign, King · **What happens:** alarm, do, not know, set, defeat, allow · **To what, where:** Boy, request, foe, sign, manner, job · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, How He Defeated the Enemy.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Boy, least, sign, King), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg75000:25:3 # text = The Boy was rather alarmed at this request of the King’s, for he did not in the least know how he should set about defeating the foe, but he allowed no sign of hesitation to appear in his manner, and he answered boldly that he was prepared to undertake the job; whereupon the King presented him with a magnificent charger and begged him to do his best. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Boy Boy PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux:pass _ _ 4 rather rather ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 alarmed alarm VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 6 at at ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 8 det _ _ 8 request request NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ’s 's PART POS _ 11 case _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 14 for for SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 21 advmod _ _ 18 in in SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 least least ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 21 nsubj _ _ 21 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 16 parataxis _ _ 22 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 25 advmod _ _ 23 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 24 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 25 aux _ _ 25 set set VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 ccomp _ _ 26 about about SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 27 defeating defeat VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 25 advcl _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 foe foe NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 31 but but CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 allowed allow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 34 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 35 det _ _ 35 sign sign NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ _ 36 of of ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 hesitation hesitation NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nmod _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 appear appear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 40 in in ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 42 nmod:poss _ _ 42 manner manner NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 45 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 answered answer VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 conj _ _ 47 boldly boldly ADV RB Degree=Pos 46 advmod _ _ 48 that that SCONJ IN _ 51 mark _ _ 49 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 50 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 51 aux:pass _ _ 51 prepared prepare VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 46 ccomp _ _ 52 to to PART TO _ 53 mark _ _ 53 undertake undertake VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 51 xcomp _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 55 det _ _ 55 job job NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 56 ; ; PUNCT , _ 60 punct _ _ 57 whereupon whereupon ADV WRB PronType=Int 60 advmod _ _ 58 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 59 det _ _ 59 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 60 nsubj _ _ 60 presented present VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 conj _ _ 61 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 60 obj _ _ 62 with with ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 63 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 64 magnificent magnificent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 charger charger NOUN NN Number=Sing 60 obl _ _ 66 and and CCONJ CC _ 67 cc _ _ 67 begged beg VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 60 conj _ _ 68 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 67 obj _ _ 69 to to PART TO _ 70 mark _ _ 70 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 67 xcomp _ _ 71 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 72 nmod:poss _ _ 72 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 70 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 73 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **alarm** | past · passive | | the Boy | | this request of the King | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | | 2 | **do** | past | Boy | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **not** **know** | present | the least | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 4 | **set** | should | Boy | | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 5 | **defeat** | gerund | Boy *not said here* | the foe | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **allow** | past | Boy | no sign of hesitation | | | | | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer sign=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | | 7 | **appear** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | no sign of hesitation *not said here* | | | Boy's manner | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in manner=Location | | 8 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | Boy | | | | | boldly *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **prepare** | past · passive | | Boy | | | | | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute | | 10 | **undertake** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | the job | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent job=Eventuality | | 11 | **present** | past | the King | | Boy | | | with a magnificent charger; whereupon *property* | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent he=Recipient with charger=Theme | | 12 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | the King *not said here* | | Boy | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 13 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the King *not said here* | Boy's best | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent good=Eventuality | | 14 | **request** | | | the King | | | | | nom request «communication transitive»: of=patient | | 15 | **sign** | | | hesitation | | | | | nom sign «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/25/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/25/4/) - ↑ back to [How He Defeated the Enemy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75000/25/)