---
title: I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him out… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him out, promising that if I did so he would spare my life. Who acts: I, Tiger. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of Good Faith., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of ever
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of Good Faith., sentence 55

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I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him out, promising that if I did so he would spare my life.

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**Who acts:** I, Tiger · **What happens:** happen, pass by, call, ask, let out, promise · **To what, where:** me, Tiger, life · **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 Good Faith.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, Tiger), 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:pg75000:4:55
# text = I happened to pass by, and he called to me, asking me to let him out, promising that if I did so he would spare my life.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	xcomp	_	_
14	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	iobj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	out	out	ADP	RP	_	16	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	promising	promise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	conj	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
22	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
25	so	so	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	spare	spare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	advcl	_	_
29	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **pass by** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **call** | past | Tiger |  | me |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient that S»: agent=Agent to i=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | Tiger *not said here* |  | me |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **let out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Tiger *not said here* | Tiger |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 6 | **promise** *speech: promise* | gerund | Tiger *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **spare** | would · past · do-support | Tiger | my life |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent life=Asset |

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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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