batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1469-l1481
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1469-l1481
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE DOLPHINS, THE WHALES, AND THE SPRAT / THE FOX AND THE MONKEY / THE ASS
AND THE LAP-DOG / THE FIR-TREE AND THE BRAMBLE; lines 1469-1481
start: '1469'
end: '1481'
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: A fir-tree boasts to a bramble that it is useful for building houses, while
the bramble answers that this usefulness exposes the fir to being cut down with
axes and saws. The stated moral prefers poverty without care to wealth with obligations.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage is titled "THE FIR-TREE AND THE BRAMBLE."
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A fir-tree boasts to a bramble and speaks contemptuously to it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The fir-tree says the bramble is of no use and contrasts this with its own
usefulness, especially for house-building.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The bramble replies that when men come with axes and saws to cut the fir-tree
down, the fir-tree will wish it were a bramble.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage ends with the moral that poverty without care is better than wealth
with many obligations.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Fir-tree
description: A tree that boasts of being useful for many things, especially house-building,
and is vulnerable to being cut down.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Bramble
description: A bramble addressed contemptuously by the fir-tree; it replies by pointing
out the danger attached to the fir-tree's usefulness.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Men
description: Human cutters or builders mentioned as those who build houses and may
come with axes and saws to cut down the fir-tree.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: boaster
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The fir-tree boasts to the bramble and speaks contemptuously.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: rebuking respondent
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The bramble answers the fir-tree by warning of the danger of being useful
timber.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: useful but vulnerable object
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The fir-tree is useful for house-building and therefore liable to be cut
down.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: lowly but safer counterpart
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The bramble is called useless by the fir-tree, but the bramble presents its
lower status as safer than the fir-tree's condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: human users and cutters
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Men are mentioned as builders who need the fir-tree and as those who may
arrive with axes and saws to cut it down.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: tree
literal_form: Fir-tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: bramble
literal_form: Bramble
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: cutting tools
literal_form: Axes and saws
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: house-building material
literal_form: Fir-tree used when men build houses
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Fir-tree boasts of usefulness
summary: The fir-tree boasts to the bramble, dismisses it as useless, and claims
its own value for many purposes, especially house-building.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Bramble warns of being cut down
summary: The bramble responds that the fir-tree's usefulness will bring men with
axes and saws to cut it down, making the fir-tree wish it were a bramble.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Stated moral
summary: The moral states that poverty without care is better than wealth with many
obligations.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Lowly safety preferred to valuable vulnerability
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The bramble argues that the fir-tree's usefulness exposes it to cutting,
and the explicit moral prefers poverty without care to wealth with obligations.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy only broadly supports this as a wisdom motif; the
passage is a moral fable rather than a mythic sacred-tree episode.
- id: motif:2
label: Boast answered by practical reversal
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The fir-tree boasts over the bramble, but the bramble reverses the valuation
by showing that the fir-tree's apparent advantage brings danger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: This is a local fable pattern; no specific cross-tradition comparison
is asserted from the passage alone.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: citation
locator: '1469'
quote_or_summary: 'Passage title: "THE FIR-TREE AND THE BRAMBLE."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1471-1475
quote_or_summary: The fir-tree boasts to the bramble, calls it useless, and says
the fir is useful for many things, especially when men build houses.
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: 1475-1478
quote_or_summary: The bramble replies that men may come with axes and saws to cut
the fir-tree down, making it wish it were a bramble.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 1480-1481
quote_or_summary: '"Better poverty without a care than wealth with its many obligations."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is short and explicit, with a stated moral. No comparison claims
were added because the supplied passage does not itself support a specific comparative
relation.
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; other titles in the locator label were not treated as part of this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l1469-l1481
passage_sha256=ca304f32d3d0d2a60046ec508515441044c1a28be9e01e5b6b0a91908e824417