batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3196-l3207
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3196-l3207
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE ESCAPED JACKDAW / THE FARMER AND THE FOX / VENUS AND THE CAT / THE CROW
AND THE SWAN; lines 3196-3207
start: '3196'
end: '3207'
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: "“You may change your habits, but not your nature.”"
summary: A crow envies a swan’s white feathers and believes bathing in the same
waters will make him white. He leaves his former feeding place near sacrificial
altars, lives by pools and streams, repeatedly bathes, fails to change color,
and dies of hunger. The moral states that habits may change but nature does not.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A crow sees a swan’s beautiful white plumage and feels envy.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The crow thinks the swan’s whiteness is due to the water where the swan bathes
and swims.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The crow leaves the neighborhood of the altars, where he had obtained food
from meat offered in sacrifice.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The crow goes to live among pools and streams.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The crow bathes and washes his feathers many times each day.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The crow’s feathers do not become whiter.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The crow dies of hunger.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The passage ends with a moral about changing habits but not nature.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Crow
description: A crow who envies the swan’s white plumage, leaves his former food
source, repeatedly bathes, and dies of hunger.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Swan
description: A swan with beautiful white plumage who constantly bathes and swims
in water.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: envious imitator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The crow envies the swan’s plumage and imitates the swan’s bathing in an
attempt to become whiter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: admired model
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The swan’s white plumage is the trait admired and imitated by the crow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: water
literal_form: water in which the swan bathes and swims; pools and streams where
the crow goes to live
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: white plumage
literal_form: the swan’s beautiful white feathers, which the crow wants to acquire
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: sacrificial meat at altars
literal_form: bits of meat offered in sacrifice near the altars, formerly used by
the crow for food
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Crow envies swan
summary: The crow sees the swan’s beautiful white plumage and concludes that the
swan’s bathing water causes the whiteness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Crow abandons former food source
summary: The crow leaves the altars where he had fed on sacrificial meat and settles
among pools and streams.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Bathing fails and hunger follows
summary: The crow repeatedly bathes and washes but does not become whiter, and he
eventually dies of hunger.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Stated moral
summary: The fable states that habits may be changed, but nature cannot be changed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: failed attempt to change innate nature by imitation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The crow imitates the swan’s bathing in order to acquire white plumage, but
his feathers remain unchanged and the moral explicitly distinguishes changeable
habits from unchangeable nature.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level didactic motif label rather than a supplied taxonomy
motif family.
- id: motif:2
label: envy leads to self-harming abandonment of livelihood
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Because of envy, the crow leaves the altars where he had food and relocates
to water, after which he dies of hunger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not explicitly state the causal chain as a general rule
beyond the specific narrative and moral.
- id: motif:3
label: mistaken cause of desirable trait
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The crow incorrectly attributes the swan’s white plumage to bathing water
and acts on that belief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The text implies the belief is mistaken through the failed result, but
does not analytically explain the true cause of the swan’s whiteness.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: 3196-3200
quote_or_summary: "“A Crow was filled with envy on seeing the beautiful white plumage
of a Swan,” and thought it came from the water where the swan bathed and swam."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 3200-3203
quote_or_summary: The crow leaves the altars, where he had lived by eating bits
of sacrificial meat, and goes to live among pools and streams.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 3203-3206
quote_or_summary: Though the crow bathes and washes his feathers many times daily,
they do not become whiter, and he eventually dies of hunger.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: '3207'
quote_or_summary: "“You may change your habits, but not your nature.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short quotation used for evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction relies only on the supplied passage. No comparison claims are
made because the passage itself does not support a specific external comparison.
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: |-
The source locator label mentions multiple fables, but the provided passage text contains only “THE CROW AND THE SWAN”; extraction is limited to that text.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3196-l3207
passage_sha256=078e17f066449473a70b08c6acfc4bddd1d29d881a08039a3088ac316dc1f117