batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1839-l1849
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l1839-l1849
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE FARMER AND HIS SONS / THE DOG AND THE COOK / THE MONKEY AS KING / THE
THIEVES AND THE COCK; lines 1839-1849
start: '1839'
end: '1849'
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: Thieves break into a house and steal only a cock. As they prepare supper,
the cock pleads that his crowing usefully wakes honest men to work, but a thief
answers that this makes thieves' livelihood harder and sends him to the pot.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Thieves enter a house and find nothing worth taking except a cock.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The thieves seize the cock and carry him away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: While preparing supper, one thief is about to wring the cock's neck.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The cock asks for mercy and says he is useful because he rouses honest men
to work in the morning by crowing.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The thief says the cock's crowing makes it harder for thieves to get a livelihood
and declares that the cock will go into the pot.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Thieves
description: A group who break into a house, seize a cock, and prepare supper.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Cock
description: A bird taken from the house who pleads for mercy on the grounds that
he wakes honest men by crowing.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Thief who replies
description: One thief who answers the cock and orders him into the pot.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Honest men
description: People whom the cock says he rouses to work in the morning.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: housebreakers and captors
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: They break into a house, take the cock, and carry him off.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: captive pleading animal
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The cock is seized and asks not to be killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: rejecter of plea
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The thief rejects the cock's plea and sends him to the pot.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: beneficiaries of the cock's crowing
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The cock says he rouses honest men to their work in the morning.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: cock
literal_form: A crowing cock used as a meal by thieves
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: pot
literal_form: Cooking pot into which the thief says the cock will go
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Theft of the cock
summary: Thieves enter a house, find no valuable goods except a cock, seize it,
and carry it away.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Plea before slaughter
summary: As supper is being prepared, the cock pleads that his crowing helps honest
men, but a thief replies that this very service harms thieves and sends him to
the pot.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: plea for life rejected because virtue harms wrongdoers
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The cock's claim to be useful to honest workers becomes the thief's reason
for killing him, since that usefulness obstructs thieves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific fable motif for animal pleading
or inverted moral reasoning; the wisdom classification is broad.
- id: motif:2
label: animal captive argues for usefulness
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The captured cock speaks to save himself by citing his practical usefulness
in waking honest men.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a literal fable pattern rather than a close match to a named taxonomy
family.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1839-1842
quote_or_summary: Thieves break into a house, find nothing worth taking except a
cock, seize it, and carry it away.
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 1842-1844
quote_or_summary: While preparing supper, one thief takes up the cock and is about
to wring its neck.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 1844-1847
quote_or_summary: '"Pray do not kill me: you will find me a most useful bird, for
I rouse honest men to their work in the morning by my crowing."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 1847-1849
quote_or_summary: '"Yes, I know you do, making it still harder for us to get a livelihood.
Into the pot you go!"'
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: The passage is brief and clear. Motif labels are broad because the supplied
taxonomy lacks specific Aesopic fable categories.
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 and metadata were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l1839-l1849
passage_sha256=e425922c5797275d8c83260375b6ef95ba1db5898c211455a01515bc56eabab0