batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1671-l1689
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1671-l1689
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE BLIND MAN AND THE CUB / THE BOY AND THE SNAILS / THE APES AND THE TWO
TRAVELLERS / THE ASS AND HIS BURDENS; lines 1671-1689
start: '1671'
end: '1689'
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 pedlar loads his ass with salt. After a stream crossing accidentally
lightens the load by dissolving some salt, the ass intentionally lies down in
the stream on a later trip. The pedlar notices the trick and replaces the load
with sponges, which absorb water and make the ass’s burden heavier. The moral
warns that a successful trick can be overused.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A pedlar owns an ass and loads it with as much salt as it can bear.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: While crossing a stream, the ass stumbles, falls into the water, and the salt
becomes wet.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Some of the wetted salt melts and drains away, making the load lighter.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: After more salt is added, the ass deliberately lies down in the stream and
again rises with a lighter load.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The pedlar detects the ass’s trick and replaces the salt load with sponges.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: When the ass lies down again, the sponges absorb water and make the burden
heavier than before.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The stated moral says that one may play a good card once too often.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Pedlar
description: Owner and master of the ass; he buys salt, loads the animal, detects
the trick, and substitutes sponges.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ass
description: Burden-bearing animal that first accidentally, then deliberately, uses
the stream to lighten its load; the final attempt makes the load heavier.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: owner-master
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The pedlar owns the ass and controls its load and journey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: burden-bearing animal
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The ass is loaded with salt and later sponges.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: detector of the trick
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The pedlar detects the ass’s intentional use of the stream and changes the
load.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: trickster whose trick backfires
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The ass repeats a successful load-lightening action, but the substituted
sponges make the result worse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: stream water
literal_form: stream / water
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: salt burden
literal_form: salt carried in panniers
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: sponge burden
literal_form: sponges piled on the ass’s back
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: First stream crossing lightens the salt load
summary: The ass falls while crossing the stream; water wets and dissolves much
of the salt, so the burden becomes lighter.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Deliberate repetition of the stream trick
summary: After the pedlar buys more salt, the ass deliberately lies down in the
stream and rises with another lighter load.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Countermeasure with sponges
summary: The pedlar notices the trick, loads the ass with sponges, and the ass’s
repeated action causes the sponges to absorb water and increase the burden.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Moral statement
summary: The fable closes with a warning that an effective stratagem may be used
once too often.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: repeated trick backfires
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The ass repeats a stratagem that once made its load lighter, but the master’s
countermeasure turns the same action into a heavier burden.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is a fable about practical
consequences rather than an explicit mythic trickster-boundary episode.
- id: motif:2
label: lesson through reversal of outcome
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The narrative teaches the moral that a useful tactic can be overused, using
the reversal from lighter to heavier burden as the lesson.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The wisdom classification is inferred from the explicit moral, not from
a named wisdom figure or doctrine.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage exemplifies a general fable pattern in which a clever stratagem
succeeds once but fails or reverses when repeated.
claim_level: same_function
target: overused trick / backfiring stratagem pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage itself supports only a functional comparison to a pattern;
it does not provide evidence for historical contact, common inheritance, or comparison
with a specific external text.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1671-1674
quote_or_summary: A pedlar who owns an ass buys salt and loads the animal with as
much as it can bear.
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 1674-1678
quote_or_summary: The ass stumbles while crossing a stream, falls into the water,
and the wetted salt melts and drains away, making the load lighter.
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 1678-1683
quote_or_summary: The master buys more salt; at the stream, the ass lies down and
again rises with a lighter load.
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 1683-1685
quote_or_summary: The master detects the trick, returns again, buys many sponges,
and loads them on the ass.
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 1685-1688
quote_or_summary: When the ass lies down in the stream again, the sponges absorb
water, and the ass rises with a larger burden than before.
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 1689
quote_or_summary: "“You may play a good card once too often.”"
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: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif and taxonomy assignments are
cautious because the available taxonomy is broad relative to the fable’s practical
moral.
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 provided passage text was used; despite the locator label listing several fables, the supplied text contains only “THE ASS AND HIS BURDENS.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l1671-l1689
passage_sha256=33e866adfd024e5e7be3c7fa93a96160ade6e80ed44fae2397932ba2defb2511