---
title: In the long night watches when pain was her companion, and the burde… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: In the long night watches when pain was her companion, and the burdens of those about her who claimed her never-failing sympathy pressed heavily upon her loving spirit, she would often light the candle at the head of her bed and read from some author of insight a poem or other glowing page, ponder i
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, Nellie N. Russell, sentence 73

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In the long night watches when pain was her companion, and the burdens of those about her who claimed her never-failing sympathy pressed heavily upon her loving spirit, she would often light the candle at the head of her bed and read from some author of insight a poem or other glowing page, ponder it for relief, and bring to us at the breakfast table the result of her thought upon it, in a radiant face and a gentle aloofness from everything petty and trivial, which banished mere gossip or small talk and sent us refreshed to our tasks.

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**Who acts:** pain, Russell, burdens, radiant face, us, our · **What happens:** watch, be, claim, not fail, press, light · **To what, where:** companion, failing sympathy, candle, head, author, result

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, 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 (pain, Russell, burdens, radiant face), 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:pg75089:3:73
# text = In the long night watches when pain was her companion, and the burdens of those about her who claimed her never-failing sympathy pressed heavily upon her loving spirit, she would often light the candle at the head of her bed and read from some author of insight a poem or other glowing page, ponder it for relief, and bring to us at the breakfast table the result of her thought upon it, in a radiant face and a gentle aloofness from everything petty and trivial, which banished mere gossip or small talk and sent us refreshed to our tasks.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	watches	watch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
7	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	companion	companion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	burdens	burden	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	14	nmod	_	_
17	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
19	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
20	claimed	claim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
21	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
22	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	24	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	failing	fail	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	25	amod	_	_
25	sympathy	sympathy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
26	pressed	press	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	acl	_	_
27	heavily	heavily	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
28	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
30	loving	loving	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
33	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
34	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
35	often	often	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
36	light	light	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	acl:relcl	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	candle	candle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
39	at	at	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	44	nmod:poss	_	_
44	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
46	read	read	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	36	conj	_	_
47	from	from	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	49	det	_	_
49	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
50	of	of	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
51	insight	insight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	nmod	_	_
52	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	poem	poem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	appos	_	_
54	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	57	cc	_	_
55	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
56	glowing	glow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	57	amod	_	_
57	page	page	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
59	ponder	ponder	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
60	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	obj	_	_
61	for	for	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
62	relief	relief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
64	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	65	cc	_	_
65	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
66	to	to	ADP	IN	_	67	case	_	_
67	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	65	obl	_	_
68	at	at	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
69	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	71	det	_	_
70	breakfast	breakfast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	71	compound	_	_
71	table	table	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	obl	_	_
72	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	73	det	_	_
73	result	result	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	obj	_	_
74	of	of	ADP	IN	_	76	case	_	_
75	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	76	nmod:poss	_	_
76	thought	thought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	nmod	_	_
77	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	78	case	_	_
78	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	76	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	83	punct	_	_
80	in	in	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
81	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	83	det	_	_
82	radiant	radiant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	83	amod	_	_
83	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	65	parataxis	_	_
84	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	87	cc	_	_
85	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	87	det	_	_
86	gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	87	amod	_	_
87	aloofness	aloofness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	83	conj	_	_
88	from	from	ADP	IN	_	90	case	_	_
89	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	90	compound	_	_
90	petty	petty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	nmod	_	_
91	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	92	cc	_	_
92	trivial	trivial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	83	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
93	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	95	punct	_	_
94	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	95	nsubj	_	_
95	banished	banish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	83	parataxis	_	_
96	mere	mere	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	97	amod	_	_
97	gossip	gossip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	95	obj	_	_
98	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	100	cc	_	_
99	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	100	amod	_	_
100	talk	talk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	97	conj	_	_
101	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	102	cc	_	_
102	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	95	conj	_	_
103	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	104	nsubj	_	_
104	refreshed	refresh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	102	conj	_	_
105	to	to	ADP	IN	_	107	case	_	_
106	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	107	nmod:poss	_	_
107	tasks	task	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	104	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
108	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | present |  |  |  |  | night |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | pain | Russell's companion |  |  |  | Russell *nmod:poss* | tree rules |
| 3 | **claim** *speech: other* | past |  | Russell's failing sympathy |  |  |  | Russell *nmod:poss*; who *nsubj* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent sympathy=Topic |
| 4 | **not** **fail** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **press** | participle |  | Russell's failing sympathy *not said here* |  |  |  | upon Russell's loving spirit; heavily *property* | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **light** | would | Russell | the candle |  | the head of Russell's bed |  | often *property* | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent candle=Product |
| 7 | **read** | present | Russell *not said here* |  |  | some author of insight |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.source»: agent=Agent from author=Source |
| 8 | **glow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **ponder** | infinitive | the burdens of those | candle |  |  |  | for relief | tree rules |
| 10 | **bring** | infinitive |  | the result of Russell's thought upon pain | us | the breakfast table |  | a radiant face and a gentle aloofness from everything petty *parataxis* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent result=Theme to we=Destination |
| 11 | **banish** | past | a radiant face and a gentle aloofness from everything petty | mere gossip or small talk |  |  |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gossip=Theme |
| 12 | **send** | past | a radiant face and a gentle aloofness from everything petty *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 13 | **refresh** | past | us |  |  |  |  | to our tasks | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 14 | **burden** |  |  | those |  |  |  |  | nom burden «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
| 15 | **result** |  |  | Russell's thought upon pain |  |  |  |  | nom result «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |
| 16 | **think** |  | Russell |  |  |  |  | upon pain | nom thought «cognition transitive»: poss=agent upon=obl |
| 17 | **task** |  | our |  |  |  |  |  | nom task «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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