--- title: But poor King Aegeus, day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics description: But poor King Aegeus, day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered to the summit of a cliff that overhung the sea, and there sat watching for Prince Theseus, homeward bound; and no sooner did he behold the fatal blackness of the sails, than he concluded that his dear son, whom he loved so much, an --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/6/90/) [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/) / [Tanglewood Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/) / [The Minotaur., part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/6/) / 90 # Tanglewood Tales, The Minotaur., part 4, sentence 90 But poor King Aegeus, day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered to the summit of a cliff that overhung the sea, and there sat watching for Prince Theseus, homeward bound; and no sooner did he behold the fatal blackness of the sails, than he concluded that his dear son, whom he loved so much, and felt so proud of, had been eaten by the Minotaur. **Who acts:** Aegeus, cliff, dear son, Minotaur · **What happens:** infirm, clamber, overhang, sit, watch, behold · **To what, where:** summit, sea, fatal blackness This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Minotaur., 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 (Aegeus, cliff, dear son, Minotaur), 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:pg976:6:90 # text = But poor King Aegeus, day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered to the summit of a cliff that overhung the sea, and there sat watching for Prince Theseus, homeward bound; and no sooner did he behold the fatal blackness of the sails, than he concluded that his dear son, whom he loved so much, and felt so proud of, had been eaten by the Minotaur. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 2 poor poor ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nmod:desc _ _ 4 Aegeus Aegeus PROPN NNP Number=Sing 10 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 6 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 appos _ _ 7 after after ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 10 infirm infirm VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 11 as as SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 12 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 15 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 16 clambered clamber VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 10 advcl _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 summit summit NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 20 of of ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 cliff cliff NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nmod _ _ 23 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 24 nsubj _ _ 24 overhung overhang VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 acl:relcl _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 sea sea NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 29 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 30 expl _ _ 30 sat sit VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 advcl _ _ 31 watching watch VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 30 xcomp _ _ 32 for for ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 compound _ _ 34 Theseus Theseus PROPN NNP Number=Sing 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 36 homeward homeward NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 compound _ _ 37 bound bound NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 38 ; ; PUNCT : _ 44 punct _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 40 no no ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 41 sooner soon ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 44 advmod _ _ 42 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 aux _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 44 behold behold VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 parataxis _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 46 fatal fatal ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 blackness blackness NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 48 of of ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 50 sails sail NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 51 , , PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 52 than than SCONJ IN _ 54 mark _ _ 53 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 54 concluded conclude VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 conj _ _ 55 that that SCONJ IN _ 62 mark _ _ 56 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 58 nmod:poss _ _ 57 dear dear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 58 amod _ _ 58 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 62 punct _ _ 60 whom whom PRON WP PronType=Rel 62 obj _ _ 61 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 62 nsubj _ _ 62 loved love VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 advcl _ _ 63 so so ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ _ 64 much much ADV RB _ 62 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 65 , , PUNCT , _ 67 punct _ _ 66 and and CCONJ CC _ 67 cc _ _ 67 felt feel VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 62 parataxis _ _ 68 so so ADV RB _ 69 advmod _ _ 69 proud proud ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 67 xcomp _ _ 70 of of ADP IN _ 69 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 71 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ _ 72 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 74 aux _ _ 73 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 74 aux:pass _ _ 74 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 67 conj _ _ 75 by by ADP IN _ 77 case _ _ 76 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 77 det _ _ 77 Minotaur Minotaur PROPN NNP Number=Sing 74 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 78 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **infirm** | infinitive | Aegeus poor King | | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **clamber** | past · perfect | Aegeus | | | the summit of a cliff | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to summit=Destination | | 3 | **overhang** | past | a cliff | the sea | | | | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme sea=Co-Theme | | 4 | **sit** | past | Aegeus poor King *not said here* | | | there | | | tree rules | | 5 | **watch** | gerund | Aegeus poor King *not said here* | | | | | for Prince Theseus | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.theme NP.location»: agent=Agent for theseus=Theme | | 6 | **behold** | past · do-support | Aegeus | the fatal blackness of the sails | | | | soon *property* | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer blackness=Stimulus | | 7 | **conclude** | past | Aegeus | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 8 | **love** | past | Aegeus's dear son | | | | | | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer whom=Stimulus | | 9 | **feel** | past | | | | | | proud *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus | | 10 | **eat** | past · perfect · passive | the Minotaur | | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 89](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/6/89/) - next →: [sentence 91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/6/91/) - ↑ back to [The Minotaur., part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/6/)