---
title: One day the gods said, “Such a son must be helped;” so after talking… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: One day the gods said, “Such a son must be helped;” so after talking the matter over, one of them, dressed as a temple priest, went to their gate and knocked. Who acts: gods. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies, with its dep
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies, sentence 6

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One day the gods said, “Such a son must be helped;” so after talking the matter over, one of them, dressed as a temple priest, went to their gate and knocked.

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**Who acts:** gods · **What happens:** say, help, talk over, dress, go, knock · **To what, where:** son, matter, gate · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (gods), 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:pg75089:14:6
# text = One day the gods said, “Such a son must be helped;” so after talking the matter over, one of them, dressed as a temple priest, went to their gate and knocked.
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
7	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	10	det:predet	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	helped	help	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
17	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
18	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	over	over	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	parataxis	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
27	dressed	dress	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	conj	_	_
28	as	as	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	temple	temple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	_
31	priest	priest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
33	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
34	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
38	knocked	knock	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the gods |  |  |  | day |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **help** *in a quote* | must · passive |  | such son |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **talk over** | gerund |  | the matter |  |  |  | one of gods *parataxis*; over *property* | vn compel-59.1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent matter=Patient |
| 4 | **dress** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | as a temple priest | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **go** | past |  |  |  | gods's gate |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to gate=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **knock** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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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