batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l5046-l5058
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l5046-l5058
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE OLD MAN AND DEATH / THE MISER / THE FOXES AND THE RIVER / THE HORSE AND
THE STAG; lines 5046-5058
start: '5046'
end: '5058'
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: the Horse found to his dismay that in the man he had got a master for good.
summary: A Horse grazing alone in a meadow is challenged by a Stag who also feeds
there and takes the best places. Wanting revenge, the Horse asks a man for help.
The man agrees on condition that he may bridle and ride the Horse. Together they
expel the Stag, but afterward the Horse discovers that the man has become his
permanent master.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A Horse grazes in a meadow that he previously had to himself.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A Stag enters the meadow, claims an equal right to feed there, and chooses
the best places for himself.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Horse wants revenge against the Stag and asks a man to help drive him
out.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The man agrees to help only if the Horse allows a bridle in his mouth and
allows the man to mount his back.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The Horse accepts the man’s condition.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The Horse and the man together drive the Stag out of the pasture.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: After the Stag is expelled, the Horse realizes that the man has become his
master permanently.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Horse
description: A horse who grazes in a meadow, seeks revenge on the Stag, accepts
a bridle and rider, and ends with a permanent master.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Stag
description: A stag who enters the meadow, claims the right to feed there, takes
the best places, and is driven out.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: man
description: A man who agrees to help the Horse drive out the Stag only if he may
bridle and ride the Horse; afterward he is the Horse’s master.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: resentful pasture-holder
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Horse had the meadow to himself and seeks revenge when the Stag enters
and takes the best places.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: rival grazer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The Stag enters the meadow, claims a right to feed there, and occupies the
best places.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: conditional helper
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The man agrees to help drive out the Stag only if the Horse accepts bridle
and rider.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: master and mastered animal
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:1
basis: After the Stag is expelled, the Horse finds that the man has become his master
permanently.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: bridle
literal_form: bridle in the Horse’s mouth
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: mounted back
literal_form: the man mounting on the Horse’s back
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: contested meadow
literal_form: meadow or pasture used for grazing
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Stag enters the Horse’s meadow
summary: The Horse grazes alone until the Stag enters, asserts a feeding right,
and takes the best places.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Horse bargains with the man
summary: The Horse asks the man for help against the Stag; the man requires permission
to bridle and ride him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Victory over the Stag and loss of freedom
summary: The Horse and man expel the Stag, but the Horse discovers that the man
is now his permanent master.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: revenge bargain that causes loss of freedom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Horse seeks revenge on the Stag by accepting the man’s terms, gains the
immediate result, but ends permanently mastered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy link to wisdom is broad and reflects the fable’s practical
lesson rather than an explicit mythic motif term in the passage.
- id: motif:2
label: temporary helper becomes permanent master
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The man first appears as an ally against the Stag, but the outcome is the
Horse’s permanent subjection to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level narrative pattern without a supplied external
taxonomy reference.
- id: motif:3
label: instrument of victory becomes instrument of control
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The bridle and mounting enable the Horse and man to drive out the Stag, but
the same arrangement leads to the man’s mastery over the Horse.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not explicitly state that the bridle remains afterward;
the motif is inferred from the sequence of condition, victory, and mastery.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 5046-5048
quote_or_summary: The passage introduces a Horse grazing in a meadow he had all
to himself.
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: summary
locator: 5048-5051
quote_or_summary: A Stag enters the meadow, claims an equal right to feed there,
and chooses the best places for himself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 5051-5053
quote_or_summary: The Horse wants revenge on the unwelcome visitor and asks a man
to help turn out the Stag.
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: quote
locator: 5053-5056
quote_or_summary: "“I can only do so if you let me put a bridle in your mouth and
mount on your back.” The Horse agrees."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 5056-5057
quote_or_summary: The Horse and the man together soon drive the Stag out of the
pasture.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 5057-5058
quote_or_summary: The Horse finds “that in the man he had got a master for good.”
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: high
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward from the supplied passage. Motif candidates
are passage-level patterns; only the broad wisdom taxonomy reference is used,
and no comparison claims are made because the passage itself does not support
an external comparison.
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 “THE HORSE AND THE STAG” passage was used; no details from other fables named in the locator label were extracted.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l5046-l5058
passage_sha256=4646b8013d190801cea1bb3397540f0fe8fa5cc7f81f5bd2a014b49e89e5bec0