--- title: He saw the footprints where two horses had ridden afore him, and eve… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics description: He saw the footprints where two horses had ridden afore him, and ever he hoped that 'twas his father who rode there, and that he had crossed the water, but he thought within himself: "What doth it profit a man to labour if he know it to be in vain? Who acts: Morien, two horses, twas. A sentence of « --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/32/) [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/) / [Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered in…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/) / [Opening, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/) / 32 # Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 7, sentence 32 He saw the footprints where two horses had ridden afore him, and ever he hoped that 'twas his father who rode there, and that he had crossed the water, but he thought within himself: "What doth it profit a man to labour if he know it to be in vain? **Who acts:** Morien, two horses, twas · **What happens:** see, ride, hope, cross, think, do · **To what, where:** footprints, water · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Morien, two horses, twas), 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:pg8447:7:32 # text = He saw the footprints where two horses had ridden afore him, and ever he hoped that 'twas his father who rode there, and that he had crossed the water, but he thought within himself: "What doth it profit a man to labour if he know it to be in vain? 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 footprints footprint NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obj _ _ 5 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 9 advmod _ _ 6 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 7 nummod _ _ 7 horses horse NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nsubj _ _ 8 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 aux _ _ 9 ridden ride VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 4 acl:relcl _ _ 10 afore afore ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 14 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 16 advmod _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 hoped hope VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 17 that that SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 18 ' ' PUNCT `` _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 19 twas twa NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 nsubj _ _ 20 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 21 nmod:poss _ _ 21 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 appos _ _ 22 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 23 nsubj _ _ 23 rode ride VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 conj _ _ 24 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 23 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 27 that that SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 crossed cross VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 23 conj _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 34 but but CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 parataxis _ _ 37 within within ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 36 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 : : PUNCT : _ 42 punct _ _ 40 " " PUNCT `` _ 42 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 41 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 42 nsubj _ _ 42 doth do VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 36 conj _ _ 43 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 obj _ _ 44 profit profit NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obj _ _ 45 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 nsubj _ _ 47 to to PART TO _ 48 mark _ _ 48 labour labour NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 acl _ _ 49 if if SCONJ IN _ 51 mark _ _ 50 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 51 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 42 advcl _ _ 52 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 obj _ _ 53 to to PART TO _ 56 mark _ _ 54 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 56 cop _ _ 55 in in ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 56 vain vain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 57 ? ? PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **see** | past | Morien | the footprints | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer footprint=Stimulus | | 2 | **ride** | past · perfect | two horses | | | | | afore Morien | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **hope** | past | Morien | | | | ever | | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot | | 4 | **ride** | past | twas | | | there | | who *nsubj* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **cross** | past · perfect | Morien | the water | | | | | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient | | 6 | **think** *speech: other* | past | Morien | | | | | within Morien | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **do** *in a quote* | present | | water | | | | What *nsubj*; profit *obj*; a man labour *nsubj* | tree rules | | 8 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | Morien | water | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 9 | **is** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Morien *not said here* | | | | | vain *property* | 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:** «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 8447 (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 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/31/) - next →: [sentence 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/33/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8447/7/)