batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l2927-l2938
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l2927-l2938
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE CLOWN AND THE COUNTRYMAN / THE LARK AND THE FARMER / THE LION AND THE
ASS / THE PROPHET; lines 2927-2938
start: '2927'
end: '2938'
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 prophet earns hire by telling fortunes in the marketplace. When told
that thieves have robbed his house, he rushes away in distress. Bystanders laugh,
and one notes that he claims to know others' futures but cannot perceive what
is in store for himself.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A prophet sits in the marketplace and tells fortunes for those who engage
his services.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A runner informs the prophet that thieves have broken into his house and taken
everything they could seize.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The prophet immediately rushes away, tearing his hair and cursing the thieves.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The bystanders are amused by the prophet's reaction.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: One bystander says the prophet claims to know what will happen to others but
cannot perceive what is in store for himself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Prophet
description: A fortune-teller in the marketplace whose own house is robbed.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Messenger or runner
description: A person who runs up and tells the prophet that his house has been
robbed.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Thieves
description: Unseen robbers who break into the prophet's house and carry off goods.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bystanders
description: People present in the marketplace who are amused by the prophet's misfortune.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Speaking bystander
description: One bystander who comments on the prophet's inability to foresee his
own affairs.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: fortune-teller for hire
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He tells the fortunes of those who engage his services.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: victim of theft
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: His house is reported broken into and stripped by thieves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: news-bringer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: This figure runs up to report the robbery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: housebreakers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They break into the prophet's house and take goods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: amused observers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: They are said to be amused by the prophet's reaction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: critic of failed foresight
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: This bystander contrasts the prophet's public claims with his inability to
foresee his own misfortune.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Fortune-telling in the marketplace interrupted by news of burglary
summary: A prophet is practicing fortune-telling in the marketplace when a runner
reports that the prophet's own house has been robbed; the prophet rushes off in
distress, and bystanders mock the gap between his claims and his self-knowledge.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: seer unable to foresee personal misfortune
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The fable turns on the contrast between the prophet's claimed knowledge of
others' futures and his failure to anticipate the theft at his own house.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has only a broad 'wisdom' category; the passage
more specifically concerns failed or pretended foresight.
- id: motif:2
label: public expert exposed by private failure
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The prophet's professional claim is undercut when he cannot perceive a danger
affecting himself, and a bystander explicitly points out the inconsistency.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level fable pattern rather than a supplied taxonomy
category.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2927-2930
quote_or_summary: A prophet sits in the marketplace and tells fortunes for anyone
who hires him.
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: 2930-2933
quote_or_summary: A person runs up and reports that the prophet's house has been
broken into by thieves who carried off whatever they could take.
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: 2933-2935
quote_or_summary: The prophet immediately rushes off, tearing his hair and calling
curses down on the thieves.
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: 2935-2936
quote_or_summary: The bystanders are amused by the prophet's behavior.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: 2936-2938
quote_or_summary: "“Our friend professes to know what is going to happen to others,
but it seems he's not clever enough to perceive what's in store for himself.”"
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: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif assignment to the supplied taxonomy
is less exact because the passage's specific pattern is failed foresight rather
than a named taxonomy item.
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 symbols from the supplied symbol taxonomy are present in the passage. No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself establish a comparison with another text or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l2927-l2938
passage_sha256=8b2db52d9c037a3528ac96b35b39e55185fd5c762ebcdf55370e418f1ea07791