---
title: It was finally decided that the whole nation of Pygmies should set t… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: It was finally decided that the whole nation of Pygmies should set to work to destroy Hercules; not, be it understood, from any doubt that a single champion would be capable of putting him to the sword, but because he was a public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing in the glory of his defeat. W
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies., part 3, sentence 35

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was finally decided that the whole nation of Pygmies should set to work to destroy Hercules; not, be it understood, from any doubt that a single champion would be capable of putting him to the sword, but because he was a public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing in the glory of his defeat.

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**Who acts:** whole nation, single champion, champion, all, defeat, Hercules · **What happens:** decide, set, work, destroy, not understand, be · **To what, where:** speech, Hercules, doubt, public enemy, glory · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Pygmies., 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 (whole nation, single champion, champion, all), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg976:9:35
# text = It was finally decided that the whole nation of Pygmies should set to work to destroy Hercules; not, be it understood, from any doubt that a single champion would be capable of putting him to the sword, but because he was a public enemy, and all were desirous of sharing in the glory of his defeat.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	decided	decide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	nation	nation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Pygmies	pygmy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	set	set	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	destroy	destroy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
17	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
21	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	aux:pass	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	from	from	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	27	det	_	_
27	doubt	doubt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
28	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	champion	champion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
32	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	cop	_	_
34	capable	capable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	acl	_	_
35	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
36	putting	put	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	34	advcl	_	_
37	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	obj	_	_
38	to	to	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
42	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
43	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	48	mark	_	_
44	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
45	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	48	cop	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	53	cc	_	_
51	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	53	nsubj	_	_
52	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	cop	_	_
53	desirous	desirous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	conj	_	_
54	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	55	mark	_	_
55	sharing	share	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	53	advcl	_	_
56	in	in	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	glory	glory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	_
59	of	of	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
60	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	61	nmod:poss	_	_
61	defeat	defeat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decide** | past · passive |  | speech |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent that S»: subject=Co-Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **set** | should | the whole nation of Pygmies |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **work** | to-infinitive | the whole nation of Pygmies *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **destroy** | to-infinitive | the whole nation of Pygmies *not said here* | Hercules |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hercules=Patient |
| 5 | **not** **understand** | infinitive · passive |  | speech |  | any doubt |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 6 | **is** | would | a single champion | any doubt *not said here* |  |  |  | capable *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **put** | gerund | a single champion *not said here* |  | Hercules |  |  | to the sword | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent he=Goal |
| 8 | **is a** | past | champion | a public enemy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **is** | past | all |  |  |  |  | desirous *property* | tree rules |
| 10 | **share** | gerund | all *not said here* |  |  | the glory of Hercules's defeat |  |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **glory** |  | Hercules's defeat |  |  |  |  |  | nom glory «state intransitive»: of=agent |
| 12 | **defeat** |  | Hercules |  |  |  |  |  | nom defeat «event transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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