---
title: The enemy were seen coming upon them from the front, and then Han Hs… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: The enemy were seen coming upon them from the front, and then Han Hsin called to his men to fight for their lives, for death was certainly behind them in the river, but, if they fought bravely, they could defeat the enemy in front. Who acts: enemy, Han, officers. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chines
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Chinese Hero, sentence 64

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The enemy were seen coming upon them from the front, and then Han Hsin called to his men to fight for their lives, for death was certainly behind them in the river, but, if they fought bravely, they could defeat the enemy in front.

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**Who acts:** enemy, Han, officers · **What happens:** see, come, call, fight, be, defeat · **To what, where:** enemy, front, men, river · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Chinese Hero. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (enemy, Han, officers), 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:pg75089:9:64
# text = The enemy were seen coming upon them from the front, and then Han Hsin called to his men to fight for their lives, for death was certainly behind them in the river, but, if they fought bravely, they could defeat the enemy in front.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
13	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	16	advmod	_	_
14	Han	Han	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
15	Hsin	Hsin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	flat	_	_
16	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	fight	fight	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	for	for	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	cop	_	_
29	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
30	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nmod	_	_
32	in	in	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
36	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
38	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
39	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
40	fought	fight	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	45	advcl	_	_
41	bravely	bravely	ADV	RB	_	40	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
43	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	45	nsubj	_	_
44	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	45	aux	_	_
45	defeat	defeat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obj	_	_
48	in	in	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
49	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past · passive |  | the enemy |  |  |  | for death | tree rules |
| 2 | **come** | gerund | the enemy *not said here* |  |  | the front |  | upon officers *= officer* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from front=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **call** | past | Han |  | Han's men |  | then |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to man=Recipient |
| 4 | **fight** | to-infinitive | Han *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for officers's lives | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | past |  |  |  | the river |  | behind officers *= officer*; certainly *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **fight** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | officers *= officer* |  |  |  |  | bravely *property* | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **defeat** | could | officers *= officer* | the enemy |  | front |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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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