---
title: To see all things clearly, to feel her solemn responsibility to ever… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: To see all things clearly, to feel her solemn responsibility to every soul that crossed her path, to act with decision and determination in every emergency, was as natural for her as to breathe. Who acts: soul. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, An Appreciation 
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, An Appreciation of Nellie N. Russell, sentence 9

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To see all things clearly, to feel her solemn responsibility to every soul that crossed her path, to act with decision and determination in every emergency, was as natural for her as to breathe.

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**Who acts:** soul · **What happens:** see, feel, cross, act, be, breathe · **To what, where:** things, solemn responsibility, path, emergency

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, An Appreciation of Nellie N. Russell. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (soul), 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:pg75089:2:9
# text = To see all things clearly, to feel her solemn responsibility to every soul that crossed her path, to act with decision and determination in every emergency, was as natural for her as to breathe.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	clearly	clearly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	feel	feel	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	solemn	solemn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	soul	soul	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	crossed	cross	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	act	act	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
22	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	decision	decision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	determination	determination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	conj	_	_
26	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	28	det	_	_
28	emergency	emergency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
30	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	cop	_	_
31	as	as	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	parataxis	_	_
33	for	for	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obl	_	_
35	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	37	mark	_	_
37	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | to-infinitive |  | all things |  |  |  | clearly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |
| 2 | **feel** | to-infinitive |  | Nellie's solemn responsibility |  |  |  | to every soul | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent responsibility=Theme |
| 3 | **cross** | past | every soul | Nellie's path |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent path=Patient |
| 4 | **act** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | every emergency |  | with decision and determination | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | for Nellie; natural *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **breathe** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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