---
title: Moved by pity, the priest persuaded the boys to let him have the kit… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: Moved by pity, the priest persuaded the boys to let him have the kite in exchange for a fan that he was carrying; and he set the bird free. Who acts: Moved pity, priest. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Story of a Tengu[1], with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Story of a Tengu\[1\], sentence 11

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Moved by pity, the priest persuaded the boys to let him have the kite in exchange for a fan that he was carrying; and he set the bird free.

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**Who acts:** Moved pity, priest · **What happens:** move, persuade, let, have, carry, set · **To what, where:** boys, priest, kite, exchange, fan, bird

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Story of a Tengu\[1\]. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Moved pity, priest), 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:pg8128:27:11
# text = Moved by pity, the priest persuaded the boys to let him have the kite in exchange for a fan that he was carrying; and he set the bird free.
1	Moved	move	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
2	by	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	pity	pity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	priest	priest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	persuaded	persuade	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
12	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	kite	kite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	exchange	exchange	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	fan	fan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
23	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
24	carrying	carry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	set	set	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	_
31	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **move** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **persuade** | past | Moved pity | the boys |  |  |  | the priest *nsubj* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boy=Patient |
| 3 | **let** | to-infinitive | Moved pity *not said here* | priest |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **have** | infinitive | priest *not said here* | the kite |  | exchange for a fan |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kite=Patient |
| 5 | **carry** | past · progressive | priest | a fan *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fan=Theme |
| 6 | **set** | past | priest | the bird |  |  |  | free *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient bird=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:** «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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