---
title: [60] That which has been done never can be undone: the past cannot b… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: [60] That which has been done never can be undone: the past cannot be recalled.—This proverb is an abbreviation of the longer Buddhist text: _Rakkwa éda ni kaerazu; ha-kyō futatabi terasazu:_ “The fallen blossom never returns to the branch; the shattered mirror never again reflects.” Who acts: prove
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Morning Awakening After a Night’s Rest in a Temple, part 2, sentence 123

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\[60\] That which has been done never can be undone: the past cannot be recalled.—This proverb is an abbreviation of the longer Buddhist text: \_Rakkwa éda ni kaerazu; ha-kyō futatabi terasazu:\_ “The fallen blossom never returns to the branch; the shattered mirror never again reflects.”

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**Who acts:** proverb, fallen blossom, shattered mirror · **What happens:** do, not undo, not recall, be, fall, not return · **To what, where:** 60, past, abbreviation · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (proverb, fallen blossom, shattered mirror), 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:pg8128:25:123
# text = [60] That which has been done never can be undone: the past cannot be recalled.—This proverb is an abbreviation of the longer Buddhist text: _Rakkwa éda ni kaerazu; ha-kyō futatabi terasazu:_ “The fallen blossom never returns to the branch; the shattered mirror never again reflects.”
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	60	60	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
4	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obj	_	_
6	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	advcl	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	undone	undo	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	past	past	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
18	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	recalled	recall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	23	det	_	_
23	proverb	proverb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
24	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	cop	_	_
25	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	abbreviation	abbreviation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
29	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	31	advmod	_	_
30	Buddhist	Buddhist	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	_
31	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	35	punct	_	_
33	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	35	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	Rakkwa	Rakkwa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	35	compound	_	_
35	éda	éda	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	_
36	ni	ni	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	35	dep	_	_
37	kaerazu	kaerazu	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	35	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	42	punct	_	_
39	ha	ha	X	FW	_	42	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	39	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	kyō	kyō	X	FW	_	42	compound	_	_
42	futatabi	futatabi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	_
43	terasazu	terasazu	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	42	flat:foreign	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	51	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	51	punct	_	_
46	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	51	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
48	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	49	amod	_	_
49	blossom	blossom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	nsubj	_	_
50	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	51	advmod	_	_
51	returns	return	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	42	parataxis	_	_
52	to	to	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	branch	branch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	61	punct	_	_
56	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
57	shattered	shattered	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	58	amod	_	_
58	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	61	nsubj	_	_
59	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	60	advmod	_	_
60	again	again	ADV	RB	_	61	advmod	_	_
61	reflects	reflect	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	61	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	61	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present · perfect · passive |  |  |  |  |  | which *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: which=Eventuality |
| 2 | **not** **undo** | can · passive |  | 60 |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **recall** | can · passive |  | the past |  |  |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **is a** | present | this proverb | a abbreviation and Rakkwa éda and ha kyō futatabi |  |  |  | of the Buddhist text; Rakkwa éda *conj*; ha kyō futatabi *conj* | tree rules |
| 5 | **fall** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **not** **return** *in a quote* | present | the fallen blossom |  |  |  |  | to the branch *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to branch=Result |
| 7 | **reflect** *in a quote* | present | the shattered mirror |  |  |  | again; never |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:** «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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