---
title: His case is an instance how much it is in the power, at times, of th… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: His case is an instance how much it is in the power, at times, of the most insignificant being to do mischief, and how all the valour of the magnanimous and the brave may be defeated by the treason of the selfish and the despicable. Who acts: case, instance, treason. A sentence of «Legends of the co
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Capture of Granada.—subjugation of the Alpuxarra Mountains., sentence 45

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His case is an instance how much it is in the power, at times, of the most insignificant being to do mischief, and how all the valour of the magnanimous and the brave may be defeated by the treason of the selfish and the despicable.

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**Who acts:** case, instance, treason · **What happens:** be, do, defeat · **To what, where:** instance, power, mischief, valour

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Capture of Granada.—subjugation of the Alpuxarra Mountains.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (case, instance, treason), 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:pg77685:23:45
# text = His case is an instance how much it is in the power, at times, of the most insignificant being to do mischief, and how all the valour of the magnanimous and the brave may be defeated by the treason of the selfish and the despicable.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	instance	instance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
7	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	20	advmod	_	_
20	insignificant	insignificant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
21	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	acl	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	mischief	mischief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
27	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	28	advmod	_	_
28	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	30	det:predet	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	valour	valour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	nsubj:pass	_	_
31	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	33	mark	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	magnanimous	magnanimous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	acl	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	brave	brave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	conj	_	_
37	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	39	aux	_	_
38	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	39	aux:pass	_	_
39	defeated	defeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	parataxis	_	_
40	by	by	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	treason	treason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
43	of	of	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
44	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
45	selfish	selfish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	nmod	_	_
46	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
47	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
48	despicable	despicable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Fandino's case | a instance |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | a instance |  |  | the power and the insignificant |  | the insignificant *conj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive | a instance *not said here* | mischief |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mischief=Eventuality |
| 4 | **defeat** | may · passive | the treason of the selfish | all valour |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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:** «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Project Gutenberg book 77685 (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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