---
title: Muza saw at length that the walls were too high to be scaled, and th… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: Muza saw at length that the walls were too high to be scaled, and the gates too strong to be burst open without the aid of engines; and he desisted from the attack until machines for the purpose could be constructed. Who acts: Muza, walls. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washingt
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Muza Besieges the City of Merida., sentence 42

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Muza saw at length that the walls were too high to be scaled, and the gates too strong to be burst open without the aid of engines; and he desisted from the attack until machines for the purpose could be constructed.

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**Who acts:** Muza, walls · **What happens:** see, be, scale, burst, desist, construct · **To what, where:** length, attack, machines

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Muza Besieges the City of Merida.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Muza, walls), 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:pg77685:30:42
# text = Muza saw at length that the walls were too high to be scaled, and the gates too strong to be burst open without the aid of engines; and he desisted from the attack until machines for the purpose could be constructed.
1	Muza	Muza	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	too	too	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	scaled	scale	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	gates	gate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
18	too	too	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
21	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	burst	burst	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	advcl	_	_
23	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	xcomp	_	_
24	without	without	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	aid	aid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	engines	engine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	desisted	desist	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
33	from	from	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	attack	attack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	_
36	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	43	mark	_	_
37	machines	machine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	43	nsubj:pass	_	_
38	for	for	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod	_	_
41	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
42	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	43	aux:pass	_	_
43	constructed	construct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | Muza |  |  | length |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | the walls |  |  |  |  | high *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **scale** | to-infinitive · passive | the walls *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP» |
| 4 | **burst** | to-infinitive · passive | Muza *not said here* |  |  |  |  | without the aid of engines; open *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V» |
| 5 | **desist** | past | Muza |  |  | the attack |  |  | vn refrain-69 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent from attack=Eventuality |
| 6 | **construct** | could · passive |  | machines for the purpose |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |

<!-- .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:** «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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