---
title: Then Minister Fox said to T’ang Sung, “We two will go up there and s… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Minister Fox said to T’ang Sung, “We two will go up there and see which can sit without moving an eyelash for the longest time; the one who moves first is to be killed.” Who acts: Minister, We, one. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, T’ang Sung’s Journey to
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, T’ang Sung’s Journey to Get the Buddhist Classics, sentence 76

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Then Minister Fox said to T’ang Sung, “We two will go up there and see which can sit without moving an eyelash for the longest time; the one who moves first is to be killed.”

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**Who acts:** Minister, We, one · **What happens:** say, go up, see, sit, move, kill · **To what, where:** T’ang, eyelash, one · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, T’ang Sung’s Journey to Get the Buddhist Classics. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Minister, We, one), 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:pg75089:16:76
# text = Then Minister Fox said to T’ang Sung, “We two will go up there and see which can sit without moving an eyelash for the longest time; the one who moves first is to be killed.”
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	Minister	Minister	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	Fox	Fox	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	flat	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	T’ang	T'ang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	Sung	Sung	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	appos	_	_
12	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
14	up	up	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
18	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
19	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	sit	sit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	ccomp	_	_
21	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
22	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	_
23	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	eyelash	eyelash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	for	for	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	longest	long	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	28	amod	_	_
28	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nsubj:pass	_	_
32	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	33	nsubj	_	_
33	moves	move	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	acl:relcl	_	_
34	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	33	advmod	_	_
35	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux:pass	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	38	mark	_	_
37	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	aux:pass	_	_
38	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Minister |  | T’ang |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to t'ang=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go up** *in a quote* | future | We |  |  | there |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **see** *in a quote* | infinitive | We *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **sit** *in a quote* | can |  |  |  |  |  | which *nsubj* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **move** *in a quote* | gerund |  | a eyelash |  |  | time |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent eyelash=Theme |
| 6 | **move** *in a quote* | present | the one |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **kill** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | the one |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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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