--- title: Before she got on his back he said to her, “We are both very hungry;… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics description: Before she got on his back he said to her, “We are both very hungry; now, if in going over the river you see a fish or anything good to eat, don’t try to get it, for if you do you will drop the treasure.” Who acts: cat, son, We, fish. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi R --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/14/69/) [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/) / [Gleanings from Chinese folklore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/) / [How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/14/) / 69 # Gleanings from Chinese folklore, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies, sentence 69 Before she got on his back he said to her, “We are both very hungry; now, if in going over the river you see a fish or anything good to eat, don’t try to get it, for if you do you will drop the treasure.” **Who acts:** cat, son, We, fish · **What happens:** get, say, be, go, see, eat · **To what, where:** back, cat, river, fish, treasure · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (cat, son, We, fish), 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:pg75089:14:69 # text = Before she got on his back he said to her, “We are both very hungry; now, if in going over the river you see a fish or anything good to eat, don’t try to get it, for if you do you will drop the treasure.” 1 Before before SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 advcl _ _ 4 on on ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 6 nmod:poss _ _ 6 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 7 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 9 to to ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 12 “ " PUNCT `` _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 14 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 17 cop _ _ 15 both both ADV RB _ 17 advmod _ _ 16 very very ADV RB _ 17 advmod _ _ 17 hungry hungry ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 18 ; ; PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 19 now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 17 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 21 if if SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 22 in in SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 23 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 28 advcl _ _ 24 over over ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 river river NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ _ 27 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 28 see see VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 ccomp _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 fish fish NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ _ 31 or or CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 32 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 30 conj _ _ 33 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 eat eat VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 37 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 38 n’t n't AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 39 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 conj _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 41 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 xcomp _ _ 42 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 44 for for SCONJ IN _ 50 mark _ _ 45 if if SCONJ IN _ 47 mark _ _ 46 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 47 nsubj _ _ 47 do do AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 48 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 50 nsubj _ _ 49 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 50 drop drop VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 41 conj _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 treasure treasure NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 54 ” " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | past | cat | | | son's back | | | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent on back=Source | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | son | | cat | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to she=Recipient clause=Topic | | 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | We | | | | now | both, hungry *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **go** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | gerund | cat *not said here* | | | the river | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme over river=Initial\_Location | | 5 | **see** *in a quote* | present | cat | a fish anything | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fish=Stimulus | | 6 | **eat** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | a fish anything *not said here* | | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **do** *in a quote* | infinitive | cat *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **not** **try** *in a quote* | infinitive | cat *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 9 | **get** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | cat *not said here* | fish | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 10 | **drop** *in a quote* | present · do-support | cat | the treasure | | | | | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent treasure=Theme | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 68](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/14/68/) - next →: [sentence 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/14/70/) - ↑ back to [How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/14/)