batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3518-l3528
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3518-l3528
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE TRAVELLERS AND THE PLANE-TREE / THE FLEA AND THE OX / THE BIRDS, THE
BEASTS, AND THE BAT / THE MAN AND HIS TWO SWEETHEARTS; lines 3518-3528
start: '3518'
end: '3528'
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: "“Between them, they left not a hair in his head, and he became perfectly
bald.”"
summary: A middle-aged man with greying hair has an older sweetheart and a younger
sweetheart. The older woman removes his dark hairs to make him look older, while
the younger woman removes his grey hairs to make him look younger. Their opposing
actions leave him bald.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The central male figure is described as middle-aged and as having hair that
is turning grey.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: 'The man has two sweethearts: one older woman and one younger woman.'
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The older sweetheart dislikes having a lover who looks much younger than herself.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: When the man visits the older sweetheart, she pulls dark hairs from his head
to make him look old.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The younger sweetheart dislikes the man looking much older than herself.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The younger sweetheart pulls grey hairs from the man's head to make him look
young.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The combined result of the two women's actions is that the man has no hair
left and becomes bald.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: middle-aged man
description: A man of middle age whose hair is turning grey and who has two sweethearts.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: older sweetheart
description: The elder of the two sweethearts, an old woman who removes the man's
dark hairs.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: younger sweetheart
description: The younger sweetheart, who removes the man's grey hairs.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: recipient of opposing alterations
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The man's dark hairs are removed by one sweetheart and his grey hairs by
the other.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: older partner seeking to age the man
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: She pulls out dark hairs to make him look old.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: younger partner seeking to youth the man
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: She pulls out grey hairs to make him look young.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: balded victim of cumulative actions
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The two women's actions leave no hair on his head.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: grey hair
literal_form: grey hairs on the man's head
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: dark hair
literal_form: dark hairs on the man's head
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: bald head
literal_form: the man left without any hair
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: two sweethearts
literal_form: an older woman and a younger woman paired around one man
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Middle-aged man with two sweethearts
summary: A middle-aged man with greying hair is introduced as having both an older
and a younger sweetheart.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Older sweetheart removes dark hairs
summary: The older sweetheart removes the man's dark hairs so that he will appear
older.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Younger sweetheart removes grey hairs
summary: The younger sweetheart removes the man's grey hairs so that he will appear
younger.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Opposing actions leave the man bald
summary: Because each sweetheart removes a different kind of hair, the man is ultimately
left with none.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: opposed partners produce total loss
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: 'Two paired figures act from opposite age preferences: one removes dark hairs
to make the man older, and the other removes grey hairs to make him younger; together
they leave him bald.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy term “duality” is broad; the passage presents a
comic fable structure rather than an explicitly cosmological duality.
- id: motif:2
label: conflicting attempts at transformation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Each sweetheart tries to alter the man's appearance in a different direction,
and the cumulative effect defeats both aims.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative pattern inferred from the sequence of actions; no
explicit moral is stated in the supplied passage.
- id: motif:3
label: age contrast in paired women
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The man is positioned between an older woman and a younger woman, each concerned
with the age his appearance suggests.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage uses the contrast for a fable outcome; no broader mythic symbolism
is stated.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: 3518-3521
quote_or_summary: "“A Man of middle age, whose hair was turning grey, had two Sweethearts,
an old woman and a young one.”"
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: 3521-3524
quote_or_summary: The older sweetheart dislikes having a lover who looks younger
than herself and pulls out his dark hairs to make him look old.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized for evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 3524-3527
quote_or_summary: The younger sweetheart dislikes the man looking older than herself
and pulls out his grey hairs to make him look young.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized for evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 3527-3528
quote_or_summary: "“Between them, they left not a hair in his head, and he became
perfectly bald.”"
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: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are cautious because
the passage is a brief fable and gives no explicit taxonomy or comparative framing.
No comparison claims were added.
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. The title range mentions adjacent fables, but the supplied passage text contains only “THE MAN AND HIS TWO SWEETHEARTS.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3518-l3528
passage_sha256=2ccbe77fa7ad715f90aace0c664d772676dd64f722f54af9a4b6191b6f06b7ad