---
title: [14] Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of Buddhis… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: [14] Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of Buddhism.—The proverb alludes to a celebrated fable in the _Avadânas_, about a number of blind men who tried to decide the form of an elephant by feeling the animal. Who acts: proverb, blind men. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadi
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Morning Awakening After a Night’s Rest in a Temple, part 1, sentence 92

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\[14\] Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of Buddhism.—The proverb alludes to a celebrated fable in the \_Avadânas\_, about a number of blind men who tried to decide the form of an elephant by feeling the animal.

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**Who acts:** proverb, blind men · **What happens:** criticise, allude, celebrate, try, decide, feel · **To what, where:** doctrines, form, animal, 14, Buddhism, elephant

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Morning Awakening After a Night’s Rest in a Temple, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (proverb, blind men), 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:pg8128:24:93
# text = [14] Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of Buddhism.—The proverb alludes to a celebrated fable in the _Avadânas_, about a number of blind men who tried to decide the form of an elephant by feeling the animal.
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	14	14	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
4	Said	Said	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod:unmarked	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	2	nmod	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	ignorantly	ignorantly	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	criticise	criticise	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	doctrines	doctrine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Buddhism	Buddhism	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	proverb	proverb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	alludes	allude	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	celebrated	celebrate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	22	amod	_	_
22	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	_	_	PUNCT	``	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	Avadânas	Avadânas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
29	about	about	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nmod	_	_
35	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
36	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	acl:relcl	_	_
37	to	to	PART	TO	_	38	mark	_	_
38	decide	decide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	xcomp	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nmod	_	_
44	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	45	mark	_	_
45	feeling	feel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	38	advcl	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **criticise** | present |  | the doctrines of Buddhism |  |  |  | who *nsubj*; ignorantly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **allude** | present | the proverb |  |  |  |  | to a celebrated fable in the Avadânas and a number of blind men | tree rules |
| 3 | **celebrate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **try** | past | blind men |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 5 | **decide** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | blind men *not said here* | the form of a elephant |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent form=Topic |
| 6 | **feel** | gerund | blind men *not said here* | the animal |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Theme |
| 8 | **indoctrinate** |  |  | Buddhism |  |  |  |  | nom doctrine «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
| 9 | **form** |  |  | a elephant |  |  |  |  | nom form «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:** «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Project Gutenberg book 8128 (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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