---
title: I am obliged to obey the commands of the Mandarin, but I do not hesi… — Winning Buddha's smile · tree and pragmatics
description: I am obliged to obey the commands of the Mandarin, but I do not hesitate to say that he is one of the vilest of men.” Who acts: I, Mandarin. A sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Winning Buddha's smile, Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9, sentence 73

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I am obliged to obey the commands of the Mandarin, but I do not hesitate to say that he is one of the vilest of men.”

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**Who acts:** I, Mandarin · **What happens:** oblige, obey, not hesitate, say, be, command · **To what, where:** I, commands, one, Mandarin · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, Mandarin), 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:pg78208:11:73
# text = I am obliged to obey the commands of the Mandarin, but I do not hesitate to say that he is one of the vilest of men.”
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	commands	command	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
13	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	hesitate	hesitate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
22	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	ccomp	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	vilest	vile	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	22	nmod	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oblige** | present · passive |  | I |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 2 | **obey** | to-infinitive |  | the commands of the Mandarin |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent command=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **hesitate** | present · do-support | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is a** | present | Mandarin | one |  |  |  | of the vilest of men | tree rules |
| 6 | **command** |  |  | the Mandarin |  |  |  |  | nom command «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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:** «Winning Buddha's smile», Project Gutenberg book 78208 (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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