batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4041-l4057
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4041-l4057
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE THIEF AND THE INNKEEPER / THE PACK-ASS AND THE WILD ASS / THE ASS AND
HIS MASTERS / THE PACK-ASS, THE WILD ASS, AND THE LION; lines 4041-4057
start: '4041'
end: '4057'
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: It is no use being your own master unless you can stand up for yourself.
summary: A Wild Ass mocks a burdened Pack-Ass for servitude and boasts of his own
freedom and easy access to fodder. A Lion then appears, spares the Pack-Ass because
a driver is present, and kills the unprotected Wild Ass. The closing moral states
that independence is useless without the ability to defend oneself.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A Wild Ass sees a Pack-Ass moving under a heavy load.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Wild Ass taunts the Pack-Ass about living in slavery.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Wild Ass says he is free, does no work, and finds abundant fodder in the
hills.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Wild Ass says the Pack-Ass depends on a master for food, carries heavy
loads, and is beaten.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: A Lion appears and does not attack the Pack-Ass because the driver is present.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Lion attacks and eats the Wild Ass, who has no protector.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The passage ends with a moral about being one’s own master only if one can
stand up for oneself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Wild Ass
description: A free animal who mocks the Pack-Ass and is later killed by the Lion.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Pack-Ass
description: A domesticated burden-bearing animal with a master and a driver present.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Lion
description: A predator who appears, avoids the guarded Pack-Ass, and eats the unprotected
Wild Ass.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Driver
description: A human presence whose proximity protects the Pack-Ass from the Lion.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Master
description: The Pack-Ass’s owner or controller, mentioned by the Wild Ass as provider
of food and imposer of labor and beatings.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: boastful free animal
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Wild Ass claims freedom, lack of work, and easy access to fodder.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: burdened domestic laborer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Pack-Ass is described as carrying a heavy load and depending on a master.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: predator
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Lion attacks and eats the Wild Ass.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: unprotected victim
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Wild Ass has no one to protect him when the Lion attacks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: protector by presence
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
basis: The Lion does not molest the Pack-Ass owing to the presence of the driver.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: owner or controller
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Wild Ass says the Pack-Ass depends on his master for food and is made
to carry loads and beaten.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: heavy load
literal_form: The heavy load carried by the Pack-Ass.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: hills with fodder
literal_form: The hills where the Wild Ass says he finds abundant fodder.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: lion
literal_form: The Lion who appears and kills the Wild Ass.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: driver’s presence
literal_form: The driver present near the Pack-Ass when the Lion appears.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Wild Ass mocks Pack-Ass
summary: The Wild Ass contrasts his own freedom and easy feeding with the Pack-Ass’s
labor, dependence, and beatings.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Lion attacks the unprotected animal
summary: A Lion appears, avoids the Pack-Ass because of the driver, and eats the
Wild Ass because he has no protector.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Closing moral
summary: The fable states that being one’s own master is useless unless one can
defend oneself.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: freedom without protection proves dangerous
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Wild Ass boasts of freedom and lack of labor, but his lack of protection
leaves him vulnerable to the Lion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-specific motif label, not a supplied taxonomy reference.
- id: motif:2
label: servitude accompanied by protection
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Pack-Ass is burdened and dependent, yet the Lion avoids him because the
driver is present.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents protection as situational rather than as an absolute
advantage of servitude.
- id: motif:3
label: boastful comparison overturned by events
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Wild Ass mocks the Pack-Ass’s condition, but the subsequent attack reverses
the implied superiority of the Wild Ass’s situation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The reversal is clear from the narrative sequence, but the label is interpretive
and should be reviewed.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 4041-4043
quote_or_summary: The fable is titled “THE PACK-ASS, THE WILD ASS, AND THE LION”;
a Wild Ass sees a Pack-Ass jogging under a heavy load.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 4043-4050
quote_or_summary: The Wild Ass taunts the Pack-Ass, claiming freedom, no work, and
abundant fodder in the hills, while saying the Pack-Ass depends on a master, carries
heavy loads, and is beaten.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 4050-4054
quote_or_summary: A Lion appears, leaves the Pack-Ass alone because of the driver,
and eats the unprotected Wild Ass.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 4056-4057
quote_or_summary: "“It is no use being your own master unless you can stand up for
yourself.”"
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: high
notes: Literal narrative extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are passage-level
candidates without external comparison claims or taxonomy matches.
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 supplied motif-family taxonomy reference clearly applies. Available symbol taxonomy terms are not present in the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4041-l4057
passage_sha256=8508e22c5f673e279780e2723fab521ceae698352c59b9c01ae69aa067154429