batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4649-l4660
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4649-l4660
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE SNAKE AND JUPITER / THE WOLF AND HIS SHADOW / THE PLOUGHMAN AND THE WOLF
/ MERCURY AND THE MAN BITTEN BY AN ANT; lines 4649-4660
start: '4649'
end: '4660'
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 man sees a ship sink with its crew and accuses the gods of injustice
for letting good and bad people die together. After an ant bites his foot, he
angrily crushes many ants at an ant-heap. Mercury appears, beats him with his
staff, and asks where his sense of justice has gone.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A man sees a ship go down with all its crew.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The man says the gods do not care about a man's character and let good and
bad people die together.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: An ant-heap is close to where the man is standing.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: An ant bites the man in the foot.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The man stamps on the ant-heap and crushes hundreds of ants described as unoffending.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Mercury appears suddenly and beats the man with his staff.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Mercury calls the man a villain and asks where his sense of justice is now.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Man bitten by an ant
description: A man who criticizes divine injustice, is bitten by an ant, and then
crushes many ants.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Ship's crew
description: The crew of a ship that goes down together.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The gods
description: Divine beings accused by the man of caring nothing for human character.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Ant
description: An ant that bites the man in the foot.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Ants at the ant-heap
description: Hundreds of ants crushed by the man after he is bitten by one ant.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Mercury
description: A divine figure who appears suddenly, beats the man with a staff, and
rebukes him.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: critic of divine justice
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The man comments severely on the injustice of the gods after seeing the ship
sink.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: perpetrator of disproportionate retaliation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: After one ant bites him, the man crushes hundreds of ants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: collective victims of shipwreck
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The ship goes down with all its crew.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: accused divine powers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The man says the gods let good and bad people die together.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: single biting animal
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: One ant bites the man in the foot.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: collective innocent victims
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The ants are called unoffending and are crushed in large numbers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: divine rebuker
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Mercury appears and challenges the man's sense of justice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: punisher with staff
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Mercury belabours the man with his staff.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: shipwreck
literal_form: ship going down with all its crew
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: ant-heap
literal_form: ant-heap near the man
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: staff
literal_form: Mercury's staff used to beat the man
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Shipwreck and complaint against the gods
summary: The man watches a ship sink with its whole crew and says the gods unjustly
let good and bad people die together.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Ant bite and destruction of the ant-heap
summary: An ant bites the man's foot, and the man angrily stamps on the ant-heap,
crushing many ants.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Mercury's rebuke
summary: Mercury appears, beats the man with a staff, and asks where his sense of
justice is now.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine rebuke of human hypocrisy
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
- wisdom
basis: Mercury punishes and questions the man after the man condemns divine injustice
but himself destroys many unoffending ants for the act of one.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a fable-style moral episode rather than an explicit
doctrinal account of divine judgment.
- id: motif:2
label: collective punishment after an individual offense
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The man criticizes collective death in the shipwreck, then responds to one
ant's bite by crushing hundreds of ants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is inferred from the parallel actions inside the passage; no
external taxonomy ID beyond the broad wisdom family is supplied.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4649-4660
quote_or_summary: A man sees a ship go down with all its crew.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 4649-4660
quote_or_summary: "“They care nothing for a man's character,” said he, “but let
the good and the bad go to their deaths together.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4649-4660
quote_or_summary: An ant-heap is nearby, and an ant bites the man in the foot just
as he speaks.
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: summary
locator: lines 4649-4660
quote_or_summary: The man angrily stamps on the ant-heap and crushes hundreds of
unoffending ants.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 4649-4660
quote_or_summary: Mercury appeared, belaboured him with his staff, and said, “You
villain, where's your nice sense of justice now?”
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: uncertain
notes: The literal sequence and figures are clear in the supplied passage. Motif
labels are interpretive and kept broad. No passage-supported cross-text comparison
claim is made.
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 and metadata were used. No external comparisons were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4649-l4660
passage_sha256=ba8b3a3e4c95b1e2e2cc828cde738c506cb33fd8d1866ce6c44f598592caf594