Comparative mythology corpus
batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4681-l4695
batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4681-l4695
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4681-l4695
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE PLOUGHMAN AND THE WOLF / MERCURY AND THE MAN BITTEN BY AN ANT / THE WILY
LION / THE PARROT AND THE CAT; lines 4681-4695
start: '4681'
end: '4695'
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 buys a parrot and gives it freedom in his house. The parrot loudly
screams from the mantelpiece, waking the household cat. The cat challenges the
newcomer’s noisy behavior, saying she has lived there all her life yet is punished
for making noise. The parrot replies that its own voice pleases people, while
the cat’s voice is considered a nuisance.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A man buys a parrot and allows it to move freely in his house.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The parrot flies onto the mantelpiece and screams loudly.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A cat sleeping on the hearthrug is disturbed by the noise.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The cat asks the parrot who it is and where it has come from.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The parrot says the cat’s master has bought it and brought it home.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The cat contrasts the parrot’s freedom to make noise with her own punishment
when she mews.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The parrot tells the cat to be silent and says people delight in the parrot’s
voice but find the cat’s voice a nuisance.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Man
description: The owner who buys the parrot and brings it into the house.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Parrot
description: A newly bought bird given freedom in the house; it screams from the
mantelpiece and answers the cat.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Cat
description: A household cat born in the house, asleep on the hearthrug, disturbed
by the parrot’s noise, and punished when she mews.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: owner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The man buys the parrot and is identified by the parrot as the cat’s master.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: newcomer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The cat calls the parrot a newcomer, and the parrot says it has just been
bought and brought home.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: favored noisy speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The parrot says people delight in its voice despite its screaming.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: longstanding resident
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The cat says she was born in the house and has lived there all her life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: disfavored noisy speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The cat says she is chased and has things thrown at her if she mews; the
parrot says her voice is a nuisance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Parrot introduced into the house
summary: A man buys a parrot and gives it freedom in his house.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Noise on the mantelpiece
summary: The parrot flies onto the mantelpiece and screams, disturbing the cat asleep
on the hearthrug.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Cat and parrot dispute over tolerated voices
summary: The cat challenges the parrot’s noisy conduct as a newcomer; the parrot
answers that its voice is welcomed while the cat’s voice is unwelcome.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: newcomer receives privileges denied to established resident
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The cat says she has lived in the house all her life yet is punished for
making noise, while the newly bought parrot says its voice is enjoyed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level social pattern rather than a supplied taxonomy
motif family.
- id: motif:2
label: different reception of similar behavior
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Both animals make vocal sounds, but the parrot’s voice is described as delightful
and the cat’s as a nuisance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No explicit moral is supplied in the passage text.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 4681-4683
quote_or_summary: A man buys a parrot and gives it the run of his house.
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: 4683-4685
quote_or_summary: The parrot enjoys its liberty, flies onto the mantelpiece, and
screams loudly.
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: 4685-4686
quote_or_summary: The noise disturbs the cat, who is asleep on the hearthrug.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 4686-4687
quote_or_summary: "“Who may you be, and where have you come from?”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 4687-4688
quote_or_summary: The parrot replies that the cat’s master has just bought it and
brought it home.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 4688-4693
quote_or_summary: The cat calls the parrot an impudent newcomer and says that although
she was born in the house and has lived there all her life, she is chased and
pelted if she mews.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 4693-4695
quote_or_summary: The parrot tells the cat to hold her tongue and says people delight
in the parrot’s voice but consider the cat’s voice a nuisance.
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: high
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage; no comparison claims were
made because the passage does not itself support a broader comparative link.
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: |-
The supplied locator label includes several fable titles, but the provided passage text is only “THE PARROT AND THE CAT”; extraction is limited to that passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4681-l4695
passage_sha256=5d9d4b0adc4744bc62a71963d2fc245904bf2beb1995e27ab3b826d799e79512