batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3977-l4004
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l3977-l4004
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE MULE / THE HOUND AND THE FOX / THE FATHER AND HIS DAUGHTERS / THE THIEF
AND THE INNKEEPER; lines 3977-4004
start: '3977'
end: '4004'
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 thief staying at an inn sees the innkeeper wearing a fine new coat during
a festival. Wanting the coat, he sits beside the innkeeper, speaks with him, and
pretends that repeated yawning will turn him into a wolf. The frightened innkeeper
slips out of his coat and locks himself inside, leaving the thief to depart with
the coat.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A thief hires a room at an inn and stays there while looking for something
to steal.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: On a festival day, the innkeeper appears in a fine new coat and sits before
the inn door.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The thief wants to possess the innkeeper’s coat.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The thief sits beside the innkeeper and talks with him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The thief yawns and howls like a wolf.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The thief says that after three yawns he becomes a ravening wolf and attacks
men’s throats.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The innkeeper believes the thief’s statement and becomes frightened.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: When the thief begins to yawn for the third time, the innkeeper slips out
of his coat and locks himself inside the inn.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The thief leaves with the coat.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Thief
description: A person who hires a room at the inn while looking for something to
steal and later departs with the innkeeper’s coat.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Innkeeper
description: The keeper of the inn, wearing a fine new coat, who believes the thief’s
story and flees indoors.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: thief
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage identifies the figure as a thief and says he looks for something
to steal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: deceiver by false animal-transformation claim
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He claims that three yawns will make him a wolf, using this claim while trying
to obtain the coat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: innkeeper
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage identifies him as the innkeeper and places him at the inn door.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: frightened victim of theft
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He believes the claim, fears being eaten by a wolf, leaves his coat behind,
and locks himself indoors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fine new coat
literal_form: The innkeeper’s fine new coat
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: wolf-form claim
literal_form: Claimed transformation into a ravening wolf after three yawns
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: three yawns
literal_form: A sequence of three yawns presented as the trigger for becoming a
wolf
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: locked inn door
literal_form: The inn door locked behind the fleeing innkeeper
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Thief notices the coat
summary: The thief, staying at the inn for a chance to steal, sees the innkeeper
wearing a fine new coat during a festival and desires it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: False wolf-transformation story
summary: The thief sits with the innkeeper, yawns, howls like a wolf, and claims
that after three yawns he turns into a ravening wolf.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Innkeeper flees and coat is stolen
summary: The innkeeper, frightened by the thief’s apparent third yawn, slips out
of his coat, locks himself indoors, and the thief leaves with the coat.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: theft by deceptive performance
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The thief obtains the coat by staging yawns and wolf-like howls and persuading
the innkeeper to act out of fear.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: 'The taxonomy reference is approximate: the passage shows trickery involving
a claimed human-animal boundary crossing, but the thief is not explicitly a sacred
or mythic trickster.'
- id: motif:2
label: claimed shapeshifting used as a ruse
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The thief says he will become a ravening wolf after three yawns, but the
narrative presents this as a deception rather than an actual transformation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: low
cautions: No real shapeshifting occurs in the passage; the motif is only present
as a false claim within the plot.
- id: motif:3
label: fear exploited to surrender property
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The innkeeper’s fear of being eaten by a wolf causes him to abandon his coat,
enabling the theft.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a plot pattern rather than a supplied taxonomy motif family.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 3977-3983
quote_or_summary: A thief hires a room at an inn looking for something to steal;
during a festival the innkeeper appears in a fine new coat and sits before the
inn door, and the thief wants the coat.
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: 3984-3988
quote_or_summary: The thief sits beside the innkeeper, talks with him, then yawns
and howls like a wolf; the innkeeper asks what is wrong.
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: 3989-3995
quote_or_summary: The thief claims that when he has “yawned three times” he becomes
“a ravening wolf” and attacks men’s throats.
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: 3996-3999
quote_or_summary: After a second yawn and howl, the innkeeper believes the thief
and is terrified at the prospect of facing a wolf.
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: 4000-4004
quote_or_summary: As the thief begins a third yawn, the innkeeper fears being eaten,
slips out of his coat, bolts inside, locks the door, and the thief leaves with
the coat.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal plot elements are clear. Motif taxonomy assignments are cautious
because the alleged wolf transformation is a trick, not an actual metamorphosis,
and no comparison is directly supported by the passage.
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 provided passage text was used; despite the locator label naming multiple fables, the supplied passage contains only “THE THIEF AND THE INNKEEPER.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l3977-l4004
passage_sha256=030312fa649e86282e1ed3f467b712e18e38ec7ea09054c597b0a0bee51e20e8