batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l2371-l2387
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l2371-l2387
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE FOX AND THE LION / THE EAGLE AND HIS CAPTOR / THE BLACKSMITH AND HIS
DOG / THE STAG AT THE POOL; lines 2371-2387
start: '2371'
end: '2387'
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: What is worth most is often valued least.
summary: A thirsty stag drinks at a pool, admires his antlers in his reflection,
despises his slender legs, is chased by a lion, escapes on open ground, but is
trapped by his antlers in branches and killed. At death he recognizes that the
legs he despised could have saved him, while the horns he gloried in caused his
ruin.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A thirsty stag goes to a pool to drink.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The stag sees his own reflection in the water.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The stag admires his spreading antlers and feels disgust for his weak, slender
legs.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: A lion sees and attacks the stag.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: During the chase, the stag gains distance from the lion while running over
open ground without trees.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: In a wood, the stag’s antlers become caught in branches.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: The lion kills the stag with teeth and claws.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:8
text: With his last breath, the stag says he despised the legs that might have saved
him and gloried in the horns that ruined him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: The passage ends with the moral that what is worth most is often valued least.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Stag
description: A thirsty stag who admires his antlers, despises his legs, flees a
lion, becomes trapped by his antlers, and dies.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Lion
description: A lion that sees, attacks, pursues, and kills the stag.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: self-observer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The stag sees his own reflection in the water and evaluates his antlers and
legs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: prey pursued by predator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The stag is attacked and chased by a lion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: speaker of final recognition
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: At his last breath, the stag states that the despised legs might have saved
him and the admired horns caused his ruin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: predator
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The lion attacks, pursues, and kills the stag.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: pool water as reflective surface
literal_form: pool; water; reflection
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: admired antlers that cause entrapment
literal_form: fine spreading antlers; horns caught in branches
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: despised legs that enable escape
literal_form: weak and slender legs; legs that might have saved the stag
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: wood and branches as obstruction
literal_form: wood; branches
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Reflection at the pool
summary: The thirsty stag drinks at a pool, sees his reflection in the water, admires
his antlers, and despises his legs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Chase from open ground into wood
summary: A lion attacks the stag. The stag outruns the lion on open ground, but
in a wood his antlers catch in branches and he is killed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Final recognition and moral
summary: As he dies, the stag recognizes that he misjudged the value of his own
body parts; the passage then gives a general moral about undervaluing what is
most useful.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: misvalued usefulness and fatal vanity
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The stag values his impressive antlers over his legs, but the legs help him
escape while the antlers cause his death; the explicit moral states that what
is worth most is often valued least.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is a fable with a practical
moral rather than an explicitly mythic wisdom episode.
- id: motif:2
label: admired feature becomes cause of ruin
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The antlers admired by the stag become caught in branches and lead to his
death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No narrower supplied taxonomy reference directly matches this motif.
- id: motif:3
label: despised weakness proves saving strength
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The stag despises his slender legs, yet those legs allow him to draw away
from the lion on open ground and are later named as what might have saved his
life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is extracted from the fable’s moral structure, not from a named
mythological motif index.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2371-2376
quote_or_summary: A thirsty stag goes to a pool, sees his reflection in the water,
admires his spreading antlers, and despises the weakness and slenderness of his
legs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 2377-2383
quote_or_summary: A lion attacks the stag; the stag outruns him on open ground,
but in a wood his antlers catch in branches and he is killed by the lion’s teeth
and claws.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: 2383-2386
quote_or_summary: "“I despised my legs, which might have saved my life: but I gloried
in my horns, and they have proved my ruin.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: '2387'
quote_or_summary: "“What is worth most is often valued least.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is self-contained and includes an explicit moral, supporting
high confidence in literal extraction and candidate fable motifs. No comparison
claims are made because the supplied passage does not itself compare this episode
to other traditions or texts.
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: |-
Extraction uses only the supplied passage and metadata. The broader locator label names multiple fables, but the provided passage text is limited to “THE STAG AT THE POOL.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l2371-l2387
passage_sha256=965e00de56ba735480b38abd195b7b1bd9462898c1e614af71a81c5a9b8bda49