batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3781-l3802
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3781-l3802
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE LION AND THE HARE / THE WOLVES AND THE DOGS / THE BULL AND THE CALF /
THE TREES AND THE AXE; lines 3781-3802
start: '3781'
end: '3802'
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: ''
summary: In one fable, a young calf offers to show a full-grown bull how to pass
through a narrow cow-house entrance, and the bull replies that he knew the way
before the calf was born. In another fable, trees give a woodman an ash sapling
for an axe handle; he uses the completed axe to fell the noblest trees, and the
trees lament that their small concession caused their ruin.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A full-grown bull struggles to force his body through the narrow entrance
to a cow-house where his stall is located.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A young calf offers to show the bull how to get through if the bull steps
aside.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The bull looks amused and says he knew that way before the calf was born.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: A woodman enters the forest and asks the trees for a handle for his axe.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The principal trees agree to the request and give the woodman a young ash
sapling.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The woodman fashions the ash sapling into an axe handle and uses the axe to
fell the noblest trees in the wood.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The trees lament that they are undone, blame themselves, and say that the
little they gave cost them all.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: full-grown Bull
description: A mature bull trying to enter a cow-house through a narrow entrance.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: young Calf
description: A young calf who offers to show the bull how to get through the entrance.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Woodman
description: A woodman who asks the trees for an axe handle, makes one from an ash
sapling, and then fells trees.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Trees
description: The collective trees of the forest, including the principal trees who
grant the woodman's request and later lament their ruin.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: young ash sapling
description: A young ash sapling given by the trees to the woodman and made into
an axe handle.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: experienced elder who rejects instruction
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bull answers that he knew the way before the calf was born.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: young adviser
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The calf offers to show the bull the way through the entrance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: petitioner who becomes destroyer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The woodman first asks for a handle and then uses the resulting axe to fell
the trees.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: grantors of a request
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The principal trees agree to give the woodman an ash sapling for a handle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: victims who blame themselves
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The trees lament that they are undone and say they are themselves to blame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: sacrificed member enabling harm
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The ash sapling is given for the axe handle, and the trees later say sacrificing
the rights of the ash led to their own loss.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: narrow entrance
literal_form: narrow entrance to a cow-house
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: trees
literal_form: forest trees, principal trees, and noblest trees
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: axe handle from ash
literal_form: handle fashioned from a young ash sapling
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: axe
literal_form: woodman's axe fitted with the ash handle
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Calf advises Bull at the cow-house entrance
summary: A bull struggles at a narrow entrance; a calf offers instruction, and the
bull replies that he already knew the way before the calf existed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Trees grant wood for the axe handle
summary: A woodman asks the forest trees for a handle for his axe, and the principal
trees give him a young ash sapling.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Gift turned against the givers
summary: After making the axe handle, the woodman fells the noblest trees, and the
trees lament that their small gift and their sacrifice of the ash caused their
ruin.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: young adviser rebuffed by experienced elder
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The calf offers practical guidance, but the bull replies that he knew the
method before the calf was born.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the exchange briefly and does not state an explicit
moral in the provided text.
- id: motif:2
label: small concession enables great loss
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The trees give a sapling for an axe handle, after which the woodman uses
the axe to fell the noblest trees; the trees say the little they gave cost them
all.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is a practical fable pattern rather than a mythic cosmological motif.
- id: motif:3
label: sacrificing a vulnerable member endangers the whole group
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- wisdom
basis: The trees say that if they had not sacrificed the rights of the ash, they
might have stood for ages.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The word 'sacrificed' occurs in the passage, but the context is moral
and political rather than ritual sacrifice.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3781-3784
quote_or_summary: A full-grown bull struggles to force his huge bulk through the
narrow entrance to the cow-house containing his stall.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 3784-3786
quote_or_summary: The calf says, "If you'll step aside a moment, I'll show you the
way to get through."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 3786-3788
quote_or_summary: The bull says, "I knew that way ... before you were born."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3790-3793
quote_or_summary: A woodman goes into the forest and asks the trees for the favor
of a handle for his axe.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3793-3796
quote_or_summary: The principal trees agree to the request and give him a young
ash sapling for the handle.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 3796-3798
quote_or_summary: After fashioning the handle, the woodman uses the axe to fell
the noblest trees in the wood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 3798-3802
quote_or_summary: 'The trees cry that they are undone and to blame: "The little
we gave has cost us all."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are candidate
fable-pattern descriptions and require human review for taxonomy alignment.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not explicitly compare these fables to another tradition, text, or motif family beyond the supplied candidate taxonomy.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3781-l3802
passage_sha256=bdf64d8657394569d3026662a936d756554bc892c7a45cca58b28096f68f2d6a