batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3889-l3904
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3889-l3904
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE CAGE-BIRD AND THE BAT / THE ASS AND HIS PURCHASER / THE KID AND THE WOLF
/ THE DEBTOR AND HIS SOW; lines 3889-3904
start: '3889'
end: '3904'
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: An Athenian debtor, unable to pay and refused delay by his creditor, takes
his only sow to market. When a buyer asks about her litters, the debtor claims
she bears females at the Mysteries and males at the Panathenaea. The narration
explains the associated Athenian festival sacrifices, and the creditor adds an
even more absurd claim that the sow bears kids at the Dionysia.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A man of Athens is in debt and is pressed for payment by his creditor.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The debtor has no means to pay immediately and asks for delay, but the creditor
refuses.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The debtor brings his only sow to market to sell it, and the creditor is also
present there.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A buyer asks whether the sow produces good litters.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The debtor says the sow produces females at the Mysteries and males at the
Panathenaea.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The passage explains that Athenians sacrifice a sow at one festival, a boar
at another, and a kid at the Dionysia.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The creditor tells the buyer not to be surprised and adds that at the Dionysia
the sow has kids.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: A Man of Athens / the Debtor
description: A debtor from Athens who cannot pay and tries to sell his only sow.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: creditor
description: The person pressing the debtor for money; he is present at the market
and comments on the debtor’s claim.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: buyer
description: A buyer at the market who asks about the sow’s litters.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Sow
description: The debtor’s only sow, offered for sale and described through claims
about festival-linked offspring.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: debtor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He has fallen into debt and is pressed by a creditor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: seller making an implausible claim
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He offers the sow for sale and claims it produces specific sexes of offspring
at specific festivals.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: creditor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He presses the debtor for payment and refuses delay.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: speaker of ironic amplification
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He adds the claim that the sow has kids at the Dionysia after the debtor’s
claims about festival births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: prospective buyer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: He asks whether the sow produces good litters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: animal for sale
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The debtor takes his only sow to market and offers her for sale.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sow
literal_form: The debtor’s only sow, offered for sale and associated in speech with
festival-timed offspring.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: festival sacrifice animals
literal_form: Sow, boar, and kid named in connection with Athenian festival sacrifices.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: market sale
literal_form: The debtor takes the sow to market to sell it.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Debt demand and refusal of delay
summary: A debtor is pressed by his creditor for money, cannot pay immediately,
asks for time, and is refused.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Sow offered at market
summary: The debtor brings his only sow to market for sale while the creditor is
present, and a buyer asks about her litters.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Festival-birth claims
summary: The debtor claims that the sow produces female and male offspring at named
festivals; the narration explains related sacrifice customs; the creditor adds
an exaggerated claim about the sow producing kids at the Dionysia.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: implausible sales boast exposed by a sharper retort
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The debtor makes a market claim about the sow’s festival-specific offspring,
and the creditor answers with an even more absurd claim, exposing or amplifying
the deception.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is approximate; the passage is a fable joke rather
than an explicit mythic trickster narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: debt pressure leading to sale of last animal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The debtor cannot pay, is denied delay, and brings his only sow to market
to sell.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative situation rather than a securely cross-cultural mythic
motif.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual calendar used for comic exaggeration
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Claims about the sow’s offspring are keyed to named Athenian festivals, and
the passage explains animal sacrifices associated with those festivals.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The ritual references function as comic context in the fable; no sacred
action occurs in the narrative scene itself.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3889-3893
quote_or_summary: An Athenian man falls into debt, is pressed by his creditor, cannot
pay at the time, asks for delay, and is refused.
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 3893-3897
quote_or_summary: The debtor takes his only sow to market to sell; the creditor
is present; a buyer asks whether the sow produces good litters.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 3897-3900
quote_or_summary: "“she produces females at the Mysteries and males at the Panathenea.”"
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 3900-3903
quote_or_summary: The passage states that Athenians sacrifice a sow at one festival,
a boar at another, and a kid at the Dionysia.
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: lines 3903-3904
quote_or_summary: "“at the Dionysia this Sow has kids!”"
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: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are candidate analytic
groupings and should be reviewed, especially 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: |-
Only the supplied passage text was used; despite the locator label listing multiple fables, the provided text contains only “THE DEBTOR AND HIS SOW.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3889-l3904
passage_sha256=4dbc701925ef8f08b0d0b32a20ce94774926d9cfc45a6e3adfcf17207deb7a49