batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1123-l1135
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1123-l1135
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE WOLF AND THE LAMB / THE PEACOCK AND THE CRANE / THE CAT AND THE BIRDS
/ THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW; lines 1123-1135
start: '1123'
end: '1135'
translation: Aesop's Fables; a new translation
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: One swallow does not make summer.
summary: A spendthrift who has wasted his fortune sees a swallow in early spring,
assumes summer has arrived, sells his coat, and then suffers when frost comes
and kills the swallow. He blames the dead bird for his own cold. The fable ends
with the proverb that one swallow does not make summer.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The spendthrift has wasted his fortune and has only the clothes he is wearing.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The spendthrift sees a swallow on a fine day in early spring.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The spendthrift interprets the swallow and fair weather as evidence that summer
has come.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The spendthrift sells his coat because he thinks he can do without it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A sharp frost arrives and kills the swallow.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The spendthrift speaks to the dead swallow and says he is perishing of cold
because of it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The passage ends with the moral that one swallow does not make summer.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Spendthrift
description: A person who has wasted his fortune and sells his coat after assuming
summer has arrived.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Swallow
description: A bird seen in early spring, later killed by frost, and blamed by the
spendthrift.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Rash interpreter of a sign
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The spendthrift assumes summer has arrived after seeing a swallow in early
spring.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: Victim of his own imprudence
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: After selling his coat, he suffers from cold when frost comes.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: Mistaken seasonal sign
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The swallow is taken by the spendthrift as evidence that summer has come,
though frost follows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: Dead bird blamed by another
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The swallow is killed by frost, and the spendthrift addresses its dead body
as the cause of his suffering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Swallow as seasonal sign
literal_form: Swallow
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Coat as protection from cold
literal_form: Coat
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: Sharp frost
literal_form: Frost
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Misreading early spring
summary: The spendthrift, reduced to only his clothes, sees a swallow on a fine
early-spring day and concludes that summer has come.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Sale of the coat
summary: Because he thinks he no longer needs his coat, the spendthrift sells it
for whatever it will fetch.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Frost and blame
summary: A sharp frost kills the swallow, and the spendthrift, suffering from cold,
blames the dead bird.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Proverbial moral
summary: The fable closes with the proverb that one swallow does not make summer.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Premature inference from a single sign
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The fable’s plot and final proverb warn against treating one swallow as sufficient
proof that summer has arrived.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is a moral fable rather than
a mythic wisdom episode.
- id: motif:2
label: Rash disposal of necessary protection
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The spendthrift sells his coat after a mistaken judgment about the season
and then suffers from cold.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a practical moral pattern inferred from the fable’s action, not
an explicitly named traditional motif.
- id: motif:3
label: Blaming the sign for the interpreter’s error
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The spendthrift blames the dead swallow even though his own interpretation
and sale of the coat caused his suffering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The causal lesson is implied by the narrative and moral rather than stated
directly beyond the proverb.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1123-1125
quote_or_summary: The spendthrift has wasted his fortune and has nothing left except
the clothes he is wearing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1125-1127
quote_or_summary: On a fine day in early spring, he sees a swallow and thinks summer
has come.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1127-1128
quote_or_summary: Believing he can do without his coat, he sells it for what it
will fetch.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1128-1130
quote_or_summary: The weather changes, and a sharp frost kills the swallow.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: 1130-1132
quote_or_summary: "“Miserable bird! Thanks to you I am perishing of cold myself.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: '1135'
quote_or_summary: "“One swallow does not make summer.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Narrative elements are explicit in the supplied passage. Motif labels are
cautious summaries of the fable’s moral pattern. No comparison claims were added
because the passage itself does not support a specific cross-textual comparison.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the supplied passage text was used. Although the locator label lists multiple fables, the passage text supplied for extraction contains only “THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l1123-l1135
passage_sha256=5f1ea179e0aed22a4c58d7706ace6ebbb16e6646c8a54714b63c7e7d74d0f790