batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4902-l4921
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l4902-l4921
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: HERCULES AND MINERVA / THE FOX WHO SERVED A LION / THE QUACK DOCTOR / THE
LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX; lines 4902-4921
start: '4902'
end: '4921'
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: An aged Lion lies sick in his den. The Wolf denounces the absent Fox, but
when the Fox arrives he explains that he has been seeking a cure. The Fox prescribes
that the Lion flay a Wolf and wrap himself in the warm skin. The Lion kills the
Wolf, and the Fox comments that this is the result of stirring up ill-will.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Lion is aged, infirm, and sick in his den.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The beasts of the forest come to inquire after the Lion's health, except for
the Fox.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Wolf uses the Fox's absence to accuse the Fox before the Lion.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The Fox arrives and hears the last words of the Wolf's accusation.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The Lion roars at the Fox in displeasure, and the Fox asks to explain his
absence.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The Fox says he has been visiting doctors to find a cure for the Lion's illness.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The Fox says the cure is for the Lion to flay a Wolf and wrap himself in the
skin while it is still warm.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The Lion kills the Wolf with one blow of his paw in order to try the Fox's
prescription.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The Fox laughs and says that this is what comes from stirring up ill-will.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Lion
description: An aged, infirm Lion lying sick in his den; he hears accusations and
then kills the Wolf to try the Fox's prescription.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Wolf
description: A beast who accuses the absent Fox before the Lion and is later killed
by the Lion.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fox
description: The absent beast accused by the Wolf; he explains that he sought a
cure and prescribes the Wolf's skin as treatment.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: beasts of the forest
description: The animals who come to inquire after the Lion's health, except for
the Fox.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: sick ruler or powerful patient
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Lion is sick in his den and is addressed as 'sire' by the Wolf and Fox.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: executor of punishment
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Lion strikes the Wolf dead after hearing the Fox's prescription.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: accuser
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Wolf calls attention to the Fox's absence and says the Fox does not care
whether the Lion is well or ill.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: victim of retaliatory prescription
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Fox prescribes a Wolf's warm skin, and the Lion kills the Wolf to try
it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: accused absentee
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Fox is absent when the other beasts visit and is accused by the Wolf.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: cunning speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Fox responds to danger by claiming to have found a cure that requires
the Wolf's skin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: courtly visitors
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The beasts of the forest come to inquire after the Lion's health.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: den
literal_form: the Lion's den
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: warm Wolf skin
literal_form: a Wolf flayed and used as a warm wrapping
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: paw blow
literal_form: one blow of the Lion's paw
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: The sick Lion receives visitors
summary: The aged Lion lies sick in his den, and the beasts of the forest come to
ask after his health, except for the Fox.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: The Wolf accuses the absent Fox
summary: The Wolf tells the Lion that the Fox's absence shows lack of care for the
Lion's condition.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: The Fox gives a deadly prescription
summary: After entering and hearing the Wolf's words, the Fox says he was seeking
a cure and prescribes flaying a Wolf and using the warm skin as a wrapping.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: The Wolf is killed
summary: The Lion kills the Wolf with one blow to try the Fox's prescription, and
the Fox comments on the result of stirring up ill-will.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: slanderer punished by the target's counter-speech
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The Wolf's accusation endangers the Fox, but the Fox's speech redirects the
Lion's anger and causes the Wolf's death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy link is broad; the passage presents animal cunning and retaliation
but does not name a mythic trickster category.
- id: motif:2
label: false or opportunistic cure requiring an enemy's body
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: 'The Fox claims to have found a cure for the Lion: flaying a Wolf and wrapping
the Lion in the warm skin.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not confirm whether the cure is medically valid; its
narrative function is to punish the Wolf.
- id: motif:3
label: ill-will rebounding on its instigator
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Wolf stirs up ill-will against the Fox, but the Fox's response leads
to the Wolf's own death; the Fox states this moral explicitly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a moral pattern rather than a named mythological motif in the
provided taxonomy.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: 4902-4904
quote_or_summary: "“A Lion, infirm with age, lay sick in his den”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 4904-4906
quote_or_summary: All the beasts of the forest come to ask about the Lion's health,
except the Fox.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 4906-4910
quote_or_summary: The Wolf, seeking to settle old scores, tells the Lion that the
Fox has not visited and does not care whether the Lion is well or ill.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 4910-4912
quote_or_summary: The Fox enters, hears the Wolf's final words, and faces the Lion's
displeasure, then asks to explain his absence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 4912-4915
quote_or_summary: The Fox says he has spent the time going to doctors and trying
to find a cure for the Lion's illness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 4915-4918
quote_or_summary: "“you must flay a Wolf and wrap yourself in his skin while it
is still warm”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 4918-4920
quote_or_summary: The Lion turns to the Wolf and kills him with one blow of his
paw to try the Fox's prescription.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: 4920-4921
quote_or_summary: "“That's what comes of stirring up ill-will.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for extraction evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The narrative actions and roles are explicit. Motif labels are descriptive;
the broad trickster taxonomy reference should be reviewed.
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 text was used. Although the locator label mentions multiple fables, the provided passage text contains only 'THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.'
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l4902-l4921
passage_sha256=a3a2081893591833f49dd4d98df35cfb9ac9f14888927d2a0d9abf579f3aadf6