batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3457-l3470
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3457-l3470
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE BALD MAN AND THE FLY / THE ASS AND THE WOLF / THE MONKEY AND THE CAMEL
/ THE SICK MAN AND THE DOCTOR; lines 3457-3470
start: '3457'
end: '3470'
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: '"My dear friend, I''m dying of good signs."'
summary: A sick man reports sweating, chills, and fever to his doctor. The doctor
repeatedly calls each symptom a good sign. When a friend later asks how he is,
the sick man replies that he is dying of good signs.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A sick man receives a visit from his doctor, who asks how he is.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The sick man reports that he sweats a great deal, and the doctor calls this
a good sign.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: On a later visit, the sick man reports shivering fits that leave him cold,
and the doctor calls this also a good sign.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: On a third visit, the sick man says he feels feverish, and the doctor says
this is a very good sign and that the patient is doing well.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: A friend later visits the invalid and asks how he is.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The sick man replies to his friend that he is dying of good signs.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sick Man
description: A patient who reports sweating, shivering fits, feverishness, and later
says he is dying.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Doctor
description: A doctor who visits the sick man and repeatedly interprets reported
symptoms as good signs.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Friend
description: A friend who comes to see the invalid and asks how he is.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: ill patient
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The figure is called a sick man and invalid and describes multiple bodily
symptoms.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: medical visitor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The figure is called the doctor and visits the patient to ask about his condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: concerned visitor
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The friend comes to see the invalid and asks how he is doing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Doctor's first visit
summary: The doctor asks about the sick man's condition; the sick man reports heavy
sweating, and the doctor says it is a good sign.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Doctor's later visits
summary: The patient reports chills and then feverishness on later visits, and the
doctor interprets both as favorable signs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Friend's visit and ironic reply
summary: A friend asks the invalid how he is, and the sick man answers that he is
dying of good signs.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: false reassurance in the face of worsening illness
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The doctor repeatedly labels the patient's reported symptoms as good signs,
while the patient later describes himself as dying.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is a brief fable; it does not state a separate explicit moral
in the provided excerpt.
- id: motif:2
label: ironic reversal of expert judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The patient's final reply turns the doctor's repeated favorable judgments
into an ironic statement about his decline.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference 'wisdom' is broad; the passage supports a practical
or satirical lesson but does not name wisdom directly.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 3457-3459
quote_or_summary: A sick man receives a visit from his doctor, who asks how he is.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: 3459-3461
quote_or_summary: The patient says he sweats a great deal; the doctor answers that
this is "a good sign."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 3461-3464
quote_or_summary: On the next visit, the patient reports shivering fits that leave
him cold, and the doctor again says this is a good sign.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 3464-3467
quote_or_summary: On the third visit, the patient says he feels feverish; the doctor
calls it a very good sign and says the patient is doing nicely.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 3467-3469
quote_or_summary: Afterward a friend comes to see the invalid and asks how he is
doing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 3469-3470
quote_or_summary: '"My dear friend, I''m dying of good signs."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are descriptive rather
than tied to a precise supplied taxonomy except for the broad and tentative 'wisdom'
reference.
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 list are present in the passage. No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not make or support a specific comparative link.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3457-l3470
passage_sha256=d426242568957c2cd0098abd4ed6533da6de11fbd6b2316e2ffca36008868f1a