---
title: There was no possibility of making any resistance; and the fifty her… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: There was no possibility of making any resistance; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice of the oaken image. Who acts: possibility. A sentence
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece., part 3, sentence 65

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There was no possibility of making any resistance; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice of the oaken image.

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**Who acts:** possibility · **What happens:** be, make, kill, wound, set, not think · **To what, where:** resistance, fifty heroic Argonauts, eyes, Golden Fleece, Jason, advice

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This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Golden Fleece., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (possibility), 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:pg976:27:65
# text = There was no possibility of making any resistance; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice of the oaken image.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	possibility	possibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	resistance	resistance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	19	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
13	heroic	heroic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	Argonauts	argonaut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
16	all	all	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
17	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	aux	_	_
18	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	parataxis	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	wounded	wound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	conj	_	_
22	by	by	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	troublesome	troublesome	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
29	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
30	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	31	advmod	_	_
31	setting	set	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	21	advcl	_	_
32	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obj	_	_
33	on	on	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
35	Golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
36	Fleece	Fleece	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
38	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
39	Jason	Jason	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	42	nsubj:pass	_	_
40	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
41	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	42	advmod	_	_
42	thought	think	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	conj	_	_
43	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	44	mark	_	_
44	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	42	advcl	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obj	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
49	oaken	oaken	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
50	image	image	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | no possibility |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | gerund | no possibility *not said here* | any resistance |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset resistance=Product |
| 3 | **kill** | might · perfect · passive |  | the fifty heroic Argonauts |  |  |  | all *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **wound** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by a flock of troublesome birds | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **set** | gerund |  | eyes |  | the Golden Fleece | ever |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent eye=Theme on fleece=Destination |
| 6 | **not** **think** *speech: other* *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect · passive |  | Jason |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  | the advice of the oaken image |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent advice=Recipient |

<!-- .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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