batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4060-l4073
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4060-l4073
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE PACK-ASS AND THE WILD ASS / THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS / THE PACK-ASS, THE
WILD ASS, AND THE LION / THE ANT; lines 4060-4073
start: '4060'
end: '4073'
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: You may punish a thief, but his bent remains.
summary: Ants are said to have once been men who tilled the soil, stole the crops
and fruits of their neighbours, and were changed by Jupiter into ants as punishment.
Although their forms changed, their nature remained the same, and they still gather
and store the fruits of others' labour.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Ants are described as once having been men who made their living by tilling
the soil.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The former men were not content with the results of their own work and looked
longingly at the crops and fruits of their neighbours.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: They stole their neighbours' crops and fruits whenever they had the chance
and added them to their own store.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Jupiter became angry at their covetousness and changed them into ants.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage states that their forms changed but their nature remained the
same.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The passage says that ants still go among cornfields, gather the fruits of
others' labour, and store them for their own use.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The closing moral states that punishment may be applied to a thief while the
thief's bent remains.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ants / former men
description: Beings described as originally men who tilled the soil, stole from
neighbours, and were transformed into ants.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Jupiter
description: Divine figure who becomes angry at the covetousness of the former men
and changes them into ants.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Neighbours
description: Owners of crops and fruits that the former men desired and stole.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: covetous thief
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The former men steal the crops and fruits of neighbours and add them to their
own store.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: divine punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Jupiter becomes angry and changes the covetous men into ants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: transformed being
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says their forms were changed from men into ants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: neighbours whose produce is stolen
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The former men look at and steal the crops and fruits of their neighbours.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: ants
literal_form: Ants as the transformed form of formerly human tillers of the soil.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: crops and fruits
literal_form: Crops and fruits belonging to neighbours and later described as fruits
of others' labour.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: store
literal_form: A store into which stolen produce is added and later stored for the
ants' own use.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: cornfields
literal_form: Cornfields where ants go about gathering the fruits of others' labour.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Human ants as covetous farmers
summary: The beings later known as ants are described as men who lived by tilling
the soil but desired and stole their neighbours' produce.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Jupiter transforms the thieves
summary: Jupiter becomes angry at their covetousness and changes the men into ants.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Unchanged nature after transformation
summary: After the change of form, the ants continue to gather and store the fruits
of others' labour; the moral states that a thief's bent remains despite punishment.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine punishment for theft or covetousness
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Jupiter is angered by the former men's covetousness and changes them into
ants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents Jupiter's action as anger and punishment, but does
not give a formal judgment scene.
- id: motif:2
label: human beings transformed into animals
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The former men are changed into ants by Jupiter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy term 'shapeshifter' is only an approximate fit
because the transformation is imposed by Jupiter rather than voluntary shape-shifting.
- id: motif:3
label: unchanged nature despite changed form
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage explicitly states that their forms changed but their nature remained
the same, and the moral says a thief's bent remains despite punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is expressed as the fable's moral rather than as a named taxonomy
motif.
- id: motif:4
label: animal behavior explained by an origin story
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The fable explains present-day ant behavior as the continuation of the former
men's habit of gathering and storing others' produce.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No specific etiological taxonomy reference was supplied in the available
list.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: Ants were once men and made their living by tilling the soil.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt or summary permitted.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: The former men were dissatisfied with their own work, desired
the crops and fruits of their neighbours, stole them when possible, and added
them to their own store.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary permitted.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: Jupiter became angry at their covetousness and changed them into
ants.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary permitted.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: '"though their forms were changed, their nature remained the same"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation permitted.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: To this day, ants go among cornfields, gather the fruits of others'
labour, and store them for their own use.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary permitted.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 4060-4073
quote_or_summary: '"You may punish a thief, but his bent remains."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation permitted.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is short and explicit about transformation, theft, divine anger,
and moral meaning. Taxonomy assignment is partly approximate for transformation
because the supplied list lacks a precise metamorphosis or etiological-animal-origin
category.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not explicitly compare this fable to another tradition or corpus.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4060-l4073
passage_sha256=d102122b458e3fad2a3a6e11e3ca682df5e1adb05ee138318c6d966f61f60969