batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3055-l3069
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3055-l3069
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP / THE TUNNY-FISH AND THE DOLPHIN / THE THREE TRADESMEN
/ THE MOUSE AND THE BULL; lines 3055-3069
start: '3055'
end: '3069'
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: The battle is not always to the strong.
summary: A bull pursues a mouse that has bitten him, but the mouse repeatedly escapes
into a hole in a wall. The exhausted and enraged bull is unable to retaliate,
and the mouse declares that little ones sometimes prevail over big fellows.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A bull chases a mouse after the mouse bites him on the nose.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The mouse escapes by slipping into a hole in a wall.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The bull repeatedly charges the wall until he becomes exhausted and sinks
to the ground.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: When the bull is quiet, the mouse comes out, bites him again, and returns
to the hole.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The bull responds with rage but is unable to reach the mouse.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: A shrill little voice from inside the wall says that big fellows do not always
prevail and little ones sometimes come off best.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage ends with the moral that battle is not always won by the strong.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Bull
description: A large animal bitten by the mouse; he chases, charges, becomes exhausted,
and fumes helplessly.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Mouse
description: A small animal that bites the bull, escapes into a wall-hole, bites
again, and speaks from safety inside the wall.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: strong pursuer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bull gives chase and repeatedly charges the wall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: small evader
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The mouse is too quick for the bull and repeatedly returns to the hole before
the bull can reach him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: helplessly enraged opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bull bellows and fumes in helpless anger after failing to reach the mouse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: small victor or moral speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The voice from inside the wall states that little ones sometimes come off
best.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: hole in the wall
literal_form: A hole in a wall used by the mouse as a refuge.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: wall
literal_form: A wall charged repeatedly by the bull and containing the mouse's hiding
place.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: contrast of big and little animals
literal_form: A bull and a mouse opposed to one another, explicitly described through
big fellows and little ones.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Bite, chase, and escape
summary: The mouse bites the bull on the nose, the bull chases him, and the mouse
escapes into a hole in the wall.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Futile assault on the wall
summary: The bull charges the wall again and again until he is exhausted and sinks
down.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Second bite and helpless rage
summary: After quiet returns, the mouse darts out to bite the bull again, then retreats
before the bull can act.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Speech and moral
summary: The mouse speaks from within the wall, saying that small ones sometimes
prevail over big ones; the explicit moral states that battle is not always to
the strong.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: small creature overcomes stronger adversary
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The mouse survives and prevails over the bull through speed, refuge, and
timing, and the moral states that strength does not always win.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The supplied taxonomy has no exact fable-specific category for weak-over-strong;
the broad "wisdom" family is used only because the passage explicitly presents
a moral lesson.
- id: motif:2
label: safe refuge defeats brute force
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The mouse's hole in the wall prevents the bull from reaching him despite
the bull's repeated charges.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local pattern in the passage rather than a named taxonomy motif.
- id: motif:3
label: moral reversal of expected strength
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The contrast between the big bull and little mouse is resolved by the small
animal's success, summarized in the final moral.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage is a didactic fable rather
than a mythological episode.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3055-3057
quote_or_summary: A bull gives chase to a mouse that has bitten him on the nose.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3057-3058
quote_or_summary: The mouse is too quick for the bull and slips into a hole in a
wall.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3058-3060
quote_or_summary: The bull charges furiously into the wall repeatedly until exhausted
and lies down.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3060-3062
quote_or_summary: When quiet returns, the mouse darts out, bites the bull again,
and returns to the hole.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3062-3064
quote_or_summary: The enraged bull rises but can only bellow and fume because the
mouse is back in the hole.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 3064-3067
quote_or_summary: '"You big fellows don''t always have it your own way, you see:
sometimes we little ones come off best."'
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:7
type: quote
locator: line 3069
quote_or_summary: '"The battle is not always to the strong."'
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: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labeling is cautious because
the available taxonomy does not include a precise weak-over-strong fable type.
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; no external fable-index comparisons were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3055-l3069
passage_sha256=be852e4169e1394f23b168c8c56346ed1083ffd9f2a9d8e7a45a805fb03e94cf