batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3263-l3276

---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3263-l3276
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
  label: THE FLY AND THE DRAUGHT-MULE / THE COCK AND THE JEWEL / THE WOLF AND THE
    SHEPHERD / THE FARMER AND THE STORK; lines 3263-3276
  start: '3263'
  end: '3276'
  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: "“If you choose bad companions no one will believe that you are anything
    but bad yourself.”"
  summary: A farmer traps cranes that have been eating seed from his newly sown field.
    A stork caught among them asks to be released, claiming he is not a crane and
    is honest and harmless. The farmer says the stork was found among crop-ruining
    cranes and will suffer with them. The moral warns that bad companions make one
    appear bad.
  language: English
  quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: A farmer set traps in a recently sown corn field to catch cranes that came
    to pick up the seed.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: When the farmer checked the traps, several cranes and a stork were caught.
  category: sequence
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
- id: obs:3
  text: The stork asked to be released and said he was not a crane but a stork, identifiable
    by his feathers.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:4
  text: The stork described himself as the most honest and harmless of birds.
  category: attribute
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: obs:5
  text: The farmer replied that the stork’s species did not matter because he was
    found among cranes that ruined the farmer’s crops.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:6
  text: The farmer said the stork would suffer like the cranes.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: obs:7
  text: The stated moral says that choosing bad companions makes others believe one
    is bad as well.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: Farmer
  description: A farmer who sets traps in his sown field and refuses to release the
    stork found among the cranes.
  role_refs:
  - role:1
  - role:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:4
- id: fig:2
  name_or_label: Cranes
  description: Birds that come to pick up seed in the farmer’s field and are caught
    in his traps.
  role_refs:
  - role:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
  - ev:4
- id: fig:3
  name_or_label: Stork
  description: A stork caught among the cranes who pleads to be released, claiming
    harmlessness and honesty.
  role_refs:
  - role:4
  - role:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
  label: Trap-setter
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: The farmer sets traps in the field to catch cranes.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: role:2
  label: Punishing judge
  assigned_to:
  - fig:1
  basis: The farmer refuses the stork’s plea and says he will suffer like the cranes.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
- id: role:3
  label: Crop-ruining companions
  assigned_to:
  - fig:2
  basis: The cranes pick up seed and are described by the farmer as ruining his crops.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:4
- id: role:4
  label: Pleading captive
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: The stork is caught in the traps and begs to be let go.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
- id: role:5
  label: Companion judged by association
  assigned_to:
  - fig:3
  basis: The farmer judges the stork because he is found among the cranes.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: Traps
  literal_form: Traps set in the sown field
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  - ev:2
- id: sym:2
  label: Sown field and seed
  literal_form: A field lately sown with corn, with seed picked up by cranes
  associated_figures:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:3
  label: Feathers as species marker
  literal_form: The stork’s feathers, cited as evidence that he is not a crane
  associated_figures:
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
- id: sym:4
  label: Bad companions
  literal_form: Cranes among whom the stork is found
  associated_figures:
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: Traps set for seed-eating cranes
  summary: The farmer places traps in a newly sown field because cranes have been
    eating the seed.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  - sym:2
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: scene:2
  label: Stork caught among cranes
  summary: The farmer finds cranes and a stork caught in the traps; the stork asks
    to be released and argues that he is harmless and not a crane.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  - sym:3
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:2
  - ev:3
- id: scene:3
  label: Punishment by association
  summary: The farmer refuses to distinguish the stork from the cranes because he
    was found among crop-ruining birds, and says he will suffer with them.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  - fig:2
  - fig:3
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:4
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: Judgment by bad company
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: The stork is punished because he is found among cranes who damage the crops,
    and the moral states that choosing bad companions makes one appear bad.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:4
  - ev:5
  confidence: high
  cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage presents a fable moral rather
    than a mythic wisdom episode.
- id: motif:2
  label: Innocent or harmless figure punished with wrongdoers
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The stork claims not to be a crane and to be harmless, but the farmer says
    he will suffer like the cranes because of his company.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:3
  - ev:4
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The passage reports the stork’s claim of innocence but does not independently
    verify it.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: summary
  locator: lines 3263-3266
  quote_or_summary: A farmer sets traps in a newly sown corn field to catch cranes
    that come to pick up the seed.
  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 3266-3268
  quote_or_summary: On returning to the traps, the farmer finds several cranes caught
    and a stork among them.
  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: quote
  locator: lines 3268-3271
  quote_or_summary: The stork begs to be released, saying he is not a crane but a
    stork, visible by his feathers, and is “the most honest and harmless of birds.”
  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: lines 3271-3274
  quote_or_summary: 'The farmer says it is nothing to him what the stork is: he found
    him among cranes who ruin his crops, and “like them, you shall suffer.”'
  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:5
  type: quote
  locator: lines 3275-3276
  quote_or_summary: "“If you choose bad companions no one will believe that you are
    anything but bad yourself.”"
  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 assignment is limited to the
    passage’s explicit moral and broad available taxonomy.
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 external comparisons were added because the supplied passage alone does not establish links to other texts or traditions.
  batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
  custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3263-l3276
  passage_sha256=be930fa955188b123ac3db9f46513966fa6569ce464b966d298d8258156e8528