batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3836-l3850
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3836-l3850
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE TREES AND THE AXE / THE ASTRONOMER / THE LABOURER AND THE SNAKE / THE
CAGE-BIRD AND THE BAT; lines 3836-3850
start: '3836'
end: '3850'
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: A caged singing-bird explains to a bat that she sings only at night because
singing by day once led a fowler to catch her. The bat replies that such caution
is useless now that she is already imprisoned. The stated moral says precautions
are useless after the event.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A singing-bird is confined in a cage hanging outside a window.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The bird sings at night when other birds are asleep.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A bat comes at night and clings to the bars of the cage.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The bat asks why the bird is silent by day and sings only at night.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The bird says that a fowler once heard her daytime singing, set nets, and
caught her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The bird says she has sung only at night since being caught.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The bat replies that this behavior is useless now that the bird is a prisoner,
and would have helped only before she was caught.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The moral states that precautions are useless after the event.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Singing-bird
description: A bird confined in a cage outside a window; she sings at night and
explains that singing by day led to her capture.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Bat
description: A bat that comes at night, clings to the cage bars, questions the bird,
and comments on the uselessness of her current precaution.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fowler
description: A bird-catcher who was attracted by the bird's daytime singing, set
nets, and caught her.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: captive
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bird is described as confined in a cage and as a prisoner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: speaker explaining past capture
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The bird explains why she changed her singing behavior after being caught.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: questioner and moral commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The bat asks about the bird's behavior and replies with the lesson that it
is too late to be cautious after capture.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: captor
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The fowler sets nets for the bird and catches her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: cage
literal_form: cage hanging outside a window
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: nets
literal_form: nets set by the fowler
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: night singing
literal_form: singing at night when other birds are asleep
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Caged bird's nocturnal singing
summary: A singing-bird is held in a cage outside a window and has the habit of
singing at night while other birds sleep.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Bat questions the bird
summary: At night a bat clings to the cage bars and asks why the bird is silent
during the day and sings only at night.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Bird recounts her capture
summary: The bird says that singing in daytime once attracted a fowler, who set
nets and caught her; since then she sings only at night.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Bat states the lesson
summary: The bat says the bird's caution is useless after imprisonment and would
have mattered only before capture.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: belated precaution after misfortune
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The narrative and moral explicitly state that the bird's precaution would
have helped before capture but is useless after she is already a prisoner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific fable-moral category for belated
caution; 'wisdom' is a broad fit based on the explicit proverbial lesson.
- id: motif:2
label: capture caused by revealing voice
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The bird reports that daytime singing attracted the fowler, who set nets
and caught her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local narrative pattern in the passage rather than a supported
taxonomy-level motif.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3836-3839
quote_or_summary: A singing-bird is confined in a cage outside a window and sings
at night when other birds are asleep.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3840-3841
quote_or_summary: One night a bat clings to the cage bars and asks why the bird
is silent by day and sings only at night.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3841-3846
quote_or_summary: The bird says she sings only at night because when she once sang
in daytime a fowler heard her, set nets, and caught her.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3846-3849
quote_or_summary: The bat replies that this is no use now that the bird is a prisoner;
if she had done it before being caught, she might still be free.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: line 3850
quote_or_summary: "“Precautions are useless after the event.”"
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: high
notes: Passage is short and explicit. Motif assignment to the broad taxonomy ref
'wisdom' is interpretive but supported by the stated moral. No comparison claims
are made because the passage itself does not compare traditions or motif families.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage was used. The broader locator label references additional fables not present in the passage text, so this record extracts only 'THE CAGE-BIRD AND THE BAT'.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3836-l3850
passage_sha256=520d240a0b09a21115db81cd87fca521cb7e255e9b737f7a03e688e764838786