--- title: “‘Lots of people act well,’ answered the Miller; ‘but very few peopl… — The Happy Prince, and Other Tales · tree and pragmatics description: “‘Lots of people act well,’ answered the Miller; ‘but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also’; and he looked sternly across the table at his little son, who felt so ashamed of himself that he hung his head down, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/4/55/) [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/) / [The Happy Prince, and Other Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/) / [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/4/) / 55 # The Happy Prince, and Other Tales, Opening, part 4, sentence 55 “‘Lots of people act well,’ answered the Miller; ‘but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also’; and he looked sternly across the table at his little son, who felt so ashamed of himself that he hung his head down, and grew quite scarlet, and began to cry into his tea. **Who acts:** Lots, few people, talking, Hans, little son · **What happens:** act, answer, talk, show, be, look · **To what, where:** Miller, difficult thing, head, scarlet, tea · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Happy Prince, and Other Tales» by Oscar Wilde, Opening, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Lots, few people, talking, Hans), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg902:4:55 # text = “‘Lots of people act well,’ answered the Miller; ‘but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also’; and he looked sternly across the table at his little son, who felt so ashamed of himself that he hung his head down, and grew quite scarlet, and began to cry into his tea. 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 3 Lots lot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 nmod _ _ 6 act act VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 advcl _ _ 7 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 9 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 6 punct _ _ 10 answered answer VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 Miller Miller PROPN NNP Number=Sing 10 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ; ; PUNCT : _ 19 punct _ _ 14 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 15 but but CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 16 very very ADV RB _ 17 advmod _ _ 17 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 18 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 nsubj _ _ 19 talk talk VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 conj _ _ 20 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 19 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 22 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 23 nsubj _ _ 23 shows show VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 19 advcl _ _ 24 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 25 det _ _ 25 talking talking NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nsubj _ _ 26 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 31 cop _ _ 27 much much ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 29 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 30 advmod _ _ 30 difficult difficult ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 ccomp _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 31 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 37 much much ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 39 finer finer NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 compound _ _ 40 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 parataxis _ _ 41 also also ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 42 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 40 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 ; ; PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 45 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 46 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 conj _ _ 47 sternly sternly ADV RB _ 46 advmod _ _ 48 across across ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 50 table table NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ _ 51 at at ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 52 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 54 nmod:poss _ _ 53 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 amod _ _ 54 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 56 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 57 nsubj _ _ 57 felt feel VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 acl:relcl _ _ 58 so so ADV RB _ 59 advmod _ _ 59 ashamed ashamed ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 57 xcomp _ _ 60 of of ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 61 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 59 obl _ _ 62 that that SCONJ IN _ 64 mark _ _ 63 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 64 nsubj _ _ 64 hung hang VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 59 advcl _ _ 65 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 66 nmod:poss _ _ 66 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 64 obj _ _ 67 down down ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 68 , , PUNCT , _ 70 punct _ _ 69 and and CCONJ CC _ 70 cc _ _ 70 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 57 conj _ _ 71 quite quite ADV RB _ 72 advmod _ _ 72 scarlet scarlet NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 73 , , PUNCT , _ 75 punct _ _ 74 and and CCONJ CC _ 75 cc _ _ 75 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 70 conj _ _ 76 to to PART TO _ 77 mark _ _ 77 cry cry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 75 xcomp _ _ 78 into into ADP IN _ 80 case _ _ 79 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 80 nmod:poss _ _ 80 tea tea NOUN NN Number=Sing 77 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 81 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **act** *in a quote* | present | Lots of people | | | | | well *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **answer** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | | | the Miller | | | | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent miller=Eventuality | | 3 | **talk** *in a quote* | present | few people | | | | | well *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **show** *in a quote* | present | | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | that talking | the difficult thing | | | | of the two | tree rules | | 6 | **look** *in a quote* | past | Hans | | | | | at Hans's little son; across the table; sternly *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent across table=Theme | | 7 | **feel** *in a quote* | past | Hans's little son | | | | | ashamed *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus | | 8 | **hang down** *in a quote* | past | Hans | Hans's head | | | | down *property* | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient | | 9 | **grow** *in a quote* | past | Hans's little son *not said here* | scarlet | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location scarlet=Theme | | 10 | **begin** *in a quote* | past | Hans's little son *not said here* | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 11 | **cry** *speech: express* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Hans's little son *not said here* | | | Hans's tea | | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent into tea=Recipient | 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:** «The Happy Prince, and Other Tales» by Oscar Wilde, Project Gutenberg book 902 (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 54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/4/54/) - next →: [sentence 56](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/4/56/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg902/4/)