batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3819-l3833
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3819-l3833
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE BULL AND THE CALF / THE TREES AND THE AXE / THE ASTRONOMER / THE LABOURER
AND THE SNAKE; lines 3819-3833
start: '3819'
end: '3833'
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: '"I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because
of your lost child."'
summary: A labourer's son dies after being bitten by a snake. The grieving father
tries to kill the snake with an axe and cuts off the tip of its tail. He later
pretends to seek reconciliation, but the snake refuses, citing both the lost tail
and the lost child. The moral states that injuries are not forgotten in the presence
of those who caused them.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A labourer's little son is bitten by a snake and dies from the wound.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The father is described as overcome with grief and angry at the snake.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The father takes an axe, stands close to the snake's hole, and waits for a
chance to kill the snake.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: When the snake comes out, the father strikes at it but only cuts off the tip
of its tail before it returns into the hole.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The father pretends that he wants to make up the quarrel in order to get the
snake to come out again.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The snake says friendship is impossible because of its lost tail and the father's
lost child.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The stated moral says injuries are never forgotten in the presence of those
who caused them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Labourer
description: The father of the child; he grieves, seeks to kill the snake, and later
pretends to seek reconciliation.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Labourer's little son
description: A child who is bitten by the snake and dies from the wound.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Snake
description: The animal that bites the child, is attacked by the father, loses the
tip of its tail, and refuses friendship.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: grieving father
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The labourer is the father of the dead child and is described as beside himself
with grief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: would-be avenger
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He takes an axe and waits near the snake's hole for a chance to kill it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: dead child
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The child is bitten by the snake and dies of the wound.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: biting snake
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The snake bites the child, causing the fatal wound.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: injured adversary
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The snake loses the tip of its tail when the father strikes at it and later
refuses friendship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: snake
literal_form: Snake
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: axe
literal_form: axe
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: snake's hole
literal_form: Snake's hole
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: lost tail
literal_form: tip of the snake's tail cut off by the axe blow
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: lost child
literal_form: dead son of the labourer
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Child bitten and killed
summary: The labourer's little son is bitten by a snake and dies from the wound,
leaving the father grief-stricken and angry.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Father attacks the snake
summary: The father takes an axe to the snake's hole, waits for the snake, and cuts
off the tip of its tail when he tries to kill it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Failed reconciliation
summary: 'The father pretends to seek reconciliation, but the snake refuses friendship
because both sides remember an injury: the tail and the child.'
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: human and serpent in lasting enmity after mutual injury
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
basis: The snake kills the man's child; the man injures the snake by cutting off
the tip of its tail; the snake states that friendship cannot follow these losses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy supports the serpent element, but not a more specific
fable-index motif for mutual injury or failed reconciliation.
- id: motif:2
label: irreconcilable injury remembered in the offender's presence
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The fable's explicit moral says injuries are never forgotten in the presence
of those who caused them, and the narrative illustrates this through the lost
child and lost tail.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a moral-pattern extraction rather than a named taxonomy motif.
- id: motif:3
label: feigned reconciliation after attempted revenge
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After failing to kill the snake, the father pretends that he wants to make
up the quarrel in order to draw it out again.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents the pretense directly, but the broader motif status
would require comparison beyond the supplied passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3819-3822
quote_or_summary: The fable introduces the labourer, whose little son is bitten
by a snake and dies; the father is overcome with grief and anger.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3822-3826
quote_or_summary: The father takes an axe, waits near the snake's hole, strikes
at the snake, and cuts off the tip of its tail before it retreats.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 3826-3830
quote_or_summary: The father pretends to seek reconciliation; the snake replies,
"I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because of your
lost child."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 3831-3833
quote_or_summary: '"Injuries are never forgotten in the presence of those who caused
them."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The narrative details and moral are explicit. Candidate motifs are limited
to the supplied passage and available taxonomy; no passage-supported 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: |-
The supplied locator label names multiple fables, but the provided passage text contains only "THE LABOURER AND THE SNAKE"; extraction is limited to that supplied passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3819-l3833
passage_sha256=464b4c3333e926ec19043cba8be320e09dbcbed70c3c0b5383159371b17b0387