---
title: He saw that, with polishing, it would be most beautiful; and, making… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: He saw that, with polishing, it would be most beautiful; and, making his way to the city, he sought the gatekeeper of the Imperial Palace and asked to see his Emperor. Who acts: workman, piece. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, The Jade Treasure, with its depen
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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, The Jade Treasure, sentence 6

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He saw that, with polishing, it would be most beautiful; and, making his way to the city, he sought the gatekeeper of the Imperial Palace and asked to see his Emperor.

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**Who acts:** workman, piece · **What happens:** see, polish, be, make, seek, ask · **To what, where:** that, way, gatekeeper, Emperor

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, The Jade Treasure. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (workman, piece), 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:pg75089:11:6
# text = He saw that, with polishing, it would be most beautiful; and, making his way to the city, he sought the gatekeeper of the Imperial Palace and asked to see his Emperor.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	with	with	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	polishing	polish	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
11	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	12	advmod	_	_
12	beautiful	beautiful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	advcl	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	sought	seek	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	gatekeeper	gatekeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	Imperial	Imperial	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	compound	_	_
30	Palace	Palace	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	conj	_	_
33	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
34	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	xcomp	_	_
35	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | workman | that |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer that=Stimulus |
| 2 | **polish** | gerund | workman *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | would | piece |  |  |  |  | beautiful *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **make** | gerund | workman *not said here* | workman's way |  |  |  | to the city | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset way=Product |
| 5 | **seek** | past | workman | the gatekeeper of the Imperial Palace |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gatekeeper=Theme |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | workman *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 7 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | workman *not said here* | workman's Emperor |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer emperor=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
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:** «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Project Gutenberg book 75089 (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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