---
title: A Pygmy, you know, though so very small, might set the world on fire… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: A Pygmy, you know, though so very small, might set the world on fire, just as easily as a Giant could; so that this was certainly the very best way of dealing with their foe, provided they could have kept him quiet while the conflagration was going forward. Who acts: you, this, best way, Pygmy. A se
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies., part 3, sentence 50

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A Pygmy, you know, though so very small, might set the world on fire, just as easily as a Giant could; so that this was certainly the very best way of dealing with their foe, provided they could have kept him quiet while the conflagration was going forward.

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**Who acts:** you, this, best way, Pygmy, conflagration · **What happens:** know, set, be, deal, provide, keep · **To what, where:** world, fire, best way, Pygmies

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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 (you, this, best way, Pygmy), 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:pg976:9:50
# text = A Pygmy, you know, though so very small, might set the world on fire, just as easily as a Giant could; so that this was certainly the very best way of dealing with their foe, provided they could have kept him quiet while the conflagration was going forward.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Pygmy	pygmy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	very	very	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	set	set	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	conj	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	just	just	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
20	as	as	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
22	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	Giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
27	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	35	mark	_	_
28	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	27	fixed	_	_
29	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	35	nsubj	_	_
30	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	cop	_	_
31	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
33	very	very	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	35	amod	_	_
35	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	parataxis	_	_
36	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	_	_
37	dealing	deal	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	35	acl	_	_
38	with	with	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	40	nmod:poss	_	_
40	foe	foe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
42	provided	provide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
43	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj:pass	_	_
44	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
45	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	aux	_	_
46	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	42	ccomp	_	_
47	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	obj	_	_
48	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	46	xcomp	_	_
49	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	conflagration	conflagration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	nsubj	_	_
52	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
53	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	46	advcl	_	_
54	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	53	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	42	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **set** | might | you *not said here* | the world |  | fire |  | easily *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent world=Theme on fire=Destination |
| 3 | **is a** | past | this | the best way |  |  |  | certainly *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **deal** | gerund | the best way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with Pygmies's foe | vn cope-83 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with foe=Theme |
| 5 | **provide** | past | a Pygmy |  |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition clause=Theme |
| 6 | **keep** | could · perfect · passive |  | Pygmies *= pygmy* |  |  |  | quiet *property* | vn sustain-55.6-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Theme he=Attribute |
| 7 | **go** | past · progressive | the conflagration |  |  |  |  | forward *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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