---
title: It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for him to swim; he could see no bridge; and as for a boat, had there been any, the rocks would have broken it to pieces in an instant. Who acts: river, Jason. A sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Golden Fleece.,
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece., part 1, sentence 29

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It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for him to swim; he could see no bridge; and as for a boat, had there been any, the rocks would have broken it to pieces in an instant.

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**Who acts:** river, Jason · **What happens:** be, wade, swim, see, break · **To what, where:** bridge, rocks

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This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Golden Fleece., 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 (river, Jason), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg976:25:29
# text = It was evidently too deep for Jason to wade, and too boisterous for him to swim; he could see no bridge; and as for a boat, had there been any, the rocks would have broken it to pieces in an instant.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	evidently	evidently	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	Jason	Jason	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	wade	wade	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	too	too	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	boisterous	boisterous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
14	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	swim	swim	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
22	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	23	det	_	_
23	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	40	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
26	as	as	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
27	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
31	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
32	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	31	advmod	_	_
33	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	40	aux:pass	_	_
34	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	40	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nsubj:pass	_	_
38	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
39	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	aux	_	_
40	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
41	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obj	_	_
42	to	to	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	obl	_	_
44	in	in	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | river |  |  |  |  | deep, evidently *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wade** | to-infinitive | Jason |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **be** |  | river *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **swim** | to-infinitive | Jason |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **see** | could | Jason | no bridge |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bridge=Stimulus |
| 6 | **break** | would · past · perfect · passive |  | the rocks |  |  |  | to pieces in a instant | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Patient it=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:** «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Project Gutenberg book 976 (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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