batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1162-l1199
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1162-l1199
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW / THE OLD WOMAN AND THE DOCTOR / THE MOON
AND HER MOTHER / MERCURY AND THE WOODMAN; lines 1162-1199
start: '1162'
end: '1199'
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: ''
summary: In one fable, the Moon asks her Mother for a gown, but the Mother says
no gown can fit because the Moon changes shape. In another, an honest woodman
loses his axe in a river; Mercury retrieves golden, silver, and original axes,
and rewards the woodman's honesty. A second man imitates the event dishonestly
and loses both the golden axe and his own axe. The stated moral is that honesty
is the best policy.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Moon asks her Mother to make her a gown.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Mother says she cannot fit the Moon because the Moon is sometimes new,
sometimes full, and sometimes neither.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A Woodman felling a tree on a riverbank loses his axe when it flies from his
hands into the water.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Mercury appears, asks why the Woodman is grieving, and dives into the river
after learning what happened.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Mercury brings up a golden axe, then a silver axe, and then the missing axe.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Woodman says the golden and silver axes are not his and rejoices when
his own axe is recovered.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Mercury gives the Woodman the other two axes because he is pleased with the
Woodman's honesty.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: A companion envies the Woodman's good fortune and deliberately drops his own
axe into the river.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: When Mercury brings up a golden axe, the companion immediately claims it as
his own.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Mercury refuses to give the companion the golden axe and also refuses to recover
the axe he dropped.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The fable ends with the moral that honesty is the best policy.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Moon
description: A personified Moon who asks her Mother to make her a gown and whose
figure changes from new to full and intermediate forms.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: The Moon's Mother
description: The Moon's Mother replies that she cannot make a fitting gown for the
changing Moon.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Woodman
description: A woodman who loses his axe in the river, truthfully rejects the golden
and silver axes, and recovers his own axe.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Mercury
description: Mercury appears at the river, retrieves axes from the water, rewards
the honest Woodman, and withholds reward from the dishonest companion.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Envious companion
description: One of the Woodman's companions, who imitates the lost-axe incident
and falsely claims a golden axe.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: supplicant requesting a garment
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Moon begs her Mother to make her a gown.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: parental respondent
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Mother answers the Moon's request and explains why she cannot make the
gown.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: worker who loses a tool
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Woodman loses his axe while felling a tree by the river.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: honest claimant
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Woodman refuses to claim the golden and silver axes as his own.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: divine helper
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Mercury pities the Woodman's distress and retrieves axes from the river.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: judge of honesty and dishonesty
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Mercury rewards the truthful Woodman and refuses reward or recovery to the
dishonest companion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: envious imitator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The companion envies the Woodman's good fortune and tries the same situation
for himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: dishonest claimant
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The companion falsely claims the golden axe as his own.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: changing moon
literal_form: Moon changing between new, full, and intermediate forms
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: gown that cannot be fitted
literal_form: gown requested by the Moon
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: river water
literal_form: river water into which axes fall and into which Mercury dives
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: tree on riverbank
literal_form: tree being felled at the bank or edge of the river
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: three axes
literal_form: golden axe, silver axe, and the lost ordinary axe
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: The Moon asks for a gown
summary: The Moon asks her Mother for a gown, and the Mother refuses on the grounds
that the Moon's figure continually changes.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The honest Woodman loses and recovers his axe
summary: A Woodman loses his axe in the river; Mercury retrieves a golden axe, a
silver axe, and the real axe, and the Woodman truthfully identifies only his own.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Mercury rewards honesty
summary: Mercury is pleased by the Woodman's honesty and gives him the golden and
silver axes as gifts in addition to his recovered axe.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: The envious companion fails
summary: A companion deliberately drops his axe and falsely claims the golden axe;
Mercury refuses him both the golden axe and the recovery of his own axe.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: changing celestial body cannot be clothed
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Moon's changing form prevents the Mother from making a gown that will
fit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is a literal fable explanation of lunar phases; no broader taxonomy
ref is directly supplied beyond the passage.
- id: motif:2
label: divine test through a lost object
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Mercury presents valuable axes before the recovered axe, and the outcomes
depend on the human claimant's truthfulness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not explicitly call the first retrieval a test, but Mercury's
later reward and punishment show judgment based on honesty.
- id: motif:3
label: honesty rewarded and dishonesty punished
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- divine_judgment
basis: The honest Woodman receives extra axes, while the dishonest companion receives
neither the golden axe nor his own lost axe; the moral states that honesty is
best.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The wisdom taxonomy ref is used for the explicit moral lesson rather than
for a named mythic wisdom figure.
- id: motif:4
label: envious imitation produces loss
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The companion envies the Woodman's good fortune, imitates the circumstances,
lies, and loses his own axe.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a fable pattern within the passage; no external comparison is
asserted.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The two woodman episodes form an internal paired pattern: similar loss-and-retrieval
situations lead to opposite outcomes because one claimant is honest and the other
is dishonest.'
claim_level: same_function
target: paired lost-axe episodes within 'Mercury and the Woodman'
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal structural comparison only, not evidence for historical
contact or common inheritance.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1162-1167
quote_or_summary: The Moon begs her Mother to make a gown; the Mother answers that
no gown can fit because the Moon is new, full, or intermediate at different times.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1168-1172
quote_or_summary: A Woodman fells a tree on a riverbank; his axe flies from his
hands and falls into the water, and he grieves by the water's edge.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1172-1181
quote_or_summary: Mercury appears, learns the cause of grief, dives into the river,
and brings up a golden axe, a silver axe, and then the missing axe; the Woodman
says the first two are not his.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1181-1185
quote_or_summary: The Woodman rejoices at recovering his property and thanks Mercury;
Mercury is pleased with his honesty and gives him the other two axes.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1185-1198
quote_or_summary: An envious companion deliberately drops his axe in the river,
claims the golden axe Mercury retrieves, and Mercury refuses to give him the golden
axe or recover his own.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: line 1199
quote_or_summary: '"Honesty is the best policy."'
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: high
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Line subranges are approximate
within the provided stable range.
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: |-
No external Aesop index, mythological taxonomy, or comparative tradition was used beyond the supplied metadata and passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l1162-l1199
passage_sha256=627a6d07ebb857517f4ffa4c4362c95130451313f84a5328399bfa4e442a5324