--- title: Then there came a vast flight of birds, small of size and sable of h… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics description: Then there came a vast flight of birds, small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered throughout all Spain, and wherever a part --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/8/85/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Legends of the conquest of Spain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/) / [Story of the Marvellous and Portentous…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/8/) / 85 # Legends of the conquest of Spain, Story of the Marvellous and Portentous Tower., sentence 85 Then there came a vast flight of birds, small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was as a stain of blood. **Who acts:** vast flight, flames, particle · **What happens:** come, darken, descend, wheel, cause, bear up · **To what, where:** sky, circles, great wind, whole, air This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Story of the Marvellous and Portentous Tower.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (vast flight, flames, particle), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg77685:8:85 # text = Then there came a vast flight of birds, small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was as a stain of blood. 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 3 advmod _ _ 2 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 3 expl _ _ 3 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 vast vast ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 flight flight NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 birds bird NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 10 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 amod _ _ 11 of of ADP IN _ 10 obl _ _ 12 size size NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 appos _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 sable sable ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 conj _ _ 15 of of ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 hue hue NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 18 darkening darken VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 sky sky NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ _ 21 like like ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 cloud cloud NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 24 ; ; PUNCT : _ 27 punct _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 26 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 descended descend VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 wheeled wheel VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 27 conj _ _ 30 in in ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 circles circle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ _ 32 round round ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 ashes ash NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 36 causing cause VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 advcl _ _ 37 so so ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 38 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 39 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 wind wind NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obj _ _ 41 with with ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 43 nmod:poss _ _ 43 wings wing NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 obl _ _ 44 that that SCONJ IN _ 48 mark _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 whole whole ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 48 nsubj _ _ 47 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 48 aux:pass _ _ 48 borne bear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 36 advcl _ _ 49 up up ADP RP _ 48 compound:prt _ _ 50 into into ADP IN _ 52 case _ _ 51 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 air air NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 obl _ _ 53 and and CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ _ 54 scattered scatter VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 48 conj _ _ 55 throughout throughout ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 57 det _ _ 57 Spain Spain PROPN NNP Number=Sing 54 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 66 punct _ _ 59 and and CCONJ CC _ 66 cc _ _ 60 wherever wherever ADV WRB PronType=Int 66 advmod _ _ 61 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 62 particle particle NOUN NN Number=Sing 66 nsubj _ _ 63 of of ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 those that DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 65 det _ _ 65 ashes ash NOUN NNS Number=Plur 62 nmod _ _ 66 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 67 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 71 nsubj _ _ 68 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 71 cop _ _ 69 as as ADP IN _ 71 case _ _ 70 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 71 det _ _ 71 stain stain NOUN NN Number=Sing 66 parataxis _ _ 72 of of ADP IN _ 73 case _ _ 73 blood blood NOUN NN Number=Sing 71 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 74 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come** | past | a vast flight of birds | | | there | then | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **darken** | gerund | a vast flight of birds *not said here* | the sky | | | | like a cloud | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent sky=Patient | | 3 | **descend** | past | flames *= flame* | | | | | | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **wheel** | participle | flames *= flame* *not said here* | | | circles | | round the ashes | vn drive-11.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **cause** | gerund | flames *= flame* *not said here* | a great wind | | | | with flames's wings | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition wind=Patient | | 6 | **bear up** | past · passive | | the whole | | the air | | | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 7 | **scatter** | participle | | | | | throughout all Spain | | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme throughout spain=Destination | | 8 | **fall** | past | a particle of that ashes | | | | | wherever *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **is** | past | particle | | | | | as a stain; of blood | tree rules | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/8/84/) - next →: [sentence 86](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/8/86/) - ↑ back to [Story of the Marvellous and Portentous Tower.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg77685/8/)