batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4634-l4646
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4634-l4646
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE SWAN / THE SNAKE AND JUPITER / THE WOLF AND HIS SHADOW / THE PLOUGHMAN
AND THE WOLF; lines 4634-4646
start: '4634'
end: '4646'
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 ploughman takes his oxen away from the plough to drink. A hungry wolf
chews the leather straps on the yoke, becomes entangled in the harness, struggles
as though pulling the plough, and is mocked by the returning ploughman as a thief
who should take up honest work.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A ploughman looses his oxen from the plough and leads them to water to drink.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A half-starved wolf appears while the ploughman is absent.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The wolf chews leather straps attached to the yoke because he is hungry.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The wolf becomes entangled in the harness and struggles to get free.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The wolf tugs at the traces as if dragging the plough.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The returning ploughman addresses the wolf as an old rascal and says he wishes
the wolf would stop thieving and take to honest work.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Ploughman
description: A ploughman who owns or handles oxen and a plough, returns, sees the
wolf entangled, and speaks to it.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Oxen
description: Oxen loosed from the plough and led to water to drink.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Wolf
description: A half-starved wolf that chews the plough's leather straps, becomes
entangled in the harness, and is called a thief by the ploughman.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: worker with plough
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage identifies him as a ploughman who looses oxen from the plough
and later returns to it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: hungry intruder
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The wolf appears in the ploughman's absence, is described as half-starved,
and chews the leather straps for food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: speaker of rebuke
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The ploughman sees the wolf and rebukes it for thieving, contrasting that
with honest work.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: draft animals
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The oxen are attached to the plough before being loosed and led away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Oxen led to water
summary: The ploughman removes the oxen from the plough and leads them away to drink.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Wolf trapped in harness
summary: A hungry wolf chews the leather straps of the yoke, becomes entangled in
the harness, and struggles as if pulling the plough.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Ploughman's rebuke
summary: The ploughman returns, sees the wolf, and says that the wolf should abandon
thieving and take up honest work.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Thief accidentally made to perform honest labor
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The wolf is characterized as a thief by the ploughman, but its entanglement
makes it tug at the traces as though pulling the plough.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents this as the ploughman's ironic speech rather than
a sustained mythic motif.
- id: motif:2
label: Hunger leads animal into self-defeating trap
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The wolf's hunger drives it to chew the straps, which leads to entanglement
in the harness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a fable pattern inferred directly from the sequence of actions,
without an explicit attached moral in the supplied passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 4634-4636
quote_or_summary: A ploughman loosens his oxen from the plough and leads them to
water to drink.
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: 4636-4637
quote_or_summary: While the ploughman is absent, a half-starved wolf appears.
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: 4637-4640
quote_or_summary: The wolf goes to the plough and chews the leather straps attached
to the yoke in hopes of satisfying hunger.
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: 4640-4643
quote_or_summary: The wolf becomes entangled in the harness, takes fright, and struggles
to get free while tugging at the traces as if dragging the plough.
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: 4643-4646
quote_or_summary: The ploughman returns and says, "Ah, you old rascal, I wish you
would give up thieving for good and take to honest work instead."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from public domain text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are plain
descriptive candidates rather than taxonomy-linked entries.
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 available taxonomy refs were applied; the passage contains no supported serpent, water-symbol, or comparative claim beyond the literal fable pattern.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4634-l4646
passage_sha256=ab70abf78698025d6fdca91f97f6acacf08cd44cb8fa97eb3ef44a9c21bc1333