batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l5125-l5141
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg-l5125-l5141
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
passage_locator:
label: THE FOX AND THE BRAMBLE / THE FOX AND THE SNAKE / THE LION, THE FOX, AND
THE STAG / THE MAN WHO LOST HIS SPADE; lines 5125-5141
start: '5125'
end: '5141'
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 digging in his vineyard misses his spade, suspects his labourers,
and orders them to swear innocence in a town temple because he trusts the town
gods more than country deities. On reaching town, he hears a crier announce a
reward for information about a thief who stole from the city temple. The man concludes
that gods unable to detect thieves in their own temples are unlikely to identify
the thief of his spade.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A man is working by digging over his vineyard and discovers that his spade
is missing.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The man thinks the spade may have been stolen by one of his labourers and
questions them closely.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The labourers all deny knowing anything about the missing spade.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The man insists that the labourers go to town and swear in a temple that they
are not guilty of the theft.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The man distrusts the country deities and thinks the town gods are more likely
to detect the thief.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Inside the town gates, the first thing heard is a crier announcing a reward
for information about a thief who stole from the city temple.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The man says he should return home because town gods who cannot detect thieves
from their own temples are unlikely to identify the thief of his spade.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the Man
description: A man digging over his vineyard who misses his spade and seeks to identify
the thief.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the labourers
description: The man’s labourers, suspected by him of knowing about or committing
the theft, who deny knowledge of it.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: simple country deities
description: Country deities of whom the man has no great opinion.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: town gods
description: Gods of the town whom the man initially considers shrewder and more
able to detect a thief.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: town crier
description: A crier who announces a reward for information about a thief who stole
from the city temple.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: thief from the city temple
description: A thief reported by the town crier as having stolen something from
the city temple.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: vineyard worker and owner of the missing tool
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The man is digging over his vineyard and misses his spade.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: accuser and seeker of divine oath-test
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He questions the labourers and insists they swear in a town temple.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: suspected deniers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The labourers are suspected by the man and deny knowledge of the missing
spade.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: contrasted divine authorities in the man’s reasoning
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The man contrasts country deities with town gods, expecting the latter to
detect the thief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: public announcer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The crier publicly proclaims a reward for information about a temple thief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: reported sacred-place thief
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The crier reports that this thief stole something from the city temple.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: missing spade
literal_form: spade
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: temple oath
literal_form: town temple as the place where the labourers are to swear innocence
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: city temple theft
literal_form: something stolen from the city temple
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Missing spade in the vineyard
summary: The man discovers that his spade is missing while working in his vineyard
and questions his labourers, who deny knowledge of it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Planned oath in the town temple
summary: Unconvinced by the denials, the man requires the labourers to swear in
a town temple because he trusts the town gods more than country deities to detect
theft.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Crier’s announcement and the man’s inference
summary: At the town gates, the man hears a crier announce a reward concerning a
theft from the city temple, and he concludes that the town gods cannot help identify
his own thief.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Theft investigated through a temple oath
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The man attempts to use a sworn oath in a temple as a way to expose guilt,
relying on divine detection.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: No actual divine judgment occurs; the passage turns the expectation into
an ironic inference.
- id: motif:2
label: Theft from a sacred place
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
basis: The town crier reports that a thief has stolen something from the city temple.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The sacred theft is reported in the background and functions as evidence
for the man’s conclusion rather than as the main narrated crime.
- id: motif:3
label: Practical wisdom through ironic reasoning
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The man reasons that gods unable to catch thieves in their own temples are
unlikely to identify the thief of his spade.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not provide an explicit moral in the supplied excerpt.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 5125-5128
quote_or_summary: A man digging over his vineyard misses his spade and suspects
it may have been stolen by one of his labourers, whom he questions closely.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 5128-5133
quote_or_summary: The labourers deny knowledge; the man insists they go to town
and swear in a temple, because he distrusts country deities and expects the town
gods to be shrewder about theft.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 5134-5137
quote_or_summary: At the town gates, a crier announces a reward for information
about a thief who stole something from the city temple.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 5137-5141
quote_or_summary: The man says he had better return home, since town gods unable
to detect thieves stealing from their own temples are unlikely to tell him who
stole his spade.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/aesops-fables-vernon-jones.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif assignments are cautious because
the passage is a fable about ironic reasoning rather than a mythic narrative with
explicit divine action.
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. The broader passage label mentions adjacent fables, but the supplied passage text contains only “The Man Who Lost His Spade.”
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-aesop-fables-vernon-jones-gutenberg__l5125-l5141
passage_sha256=c2a6ee83867b3afdf9be967c4d1a202331e716cdc99dde804d6d7e7fe295104a