batch.motif.indigenous-australian-australian-legendary-tales-parker-gutenberg-l1839-l1964
---
record_id: batch.motif.indigenous-australian-australian-legendary-tales-parker-gutenberg-l1839-l1964
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
passage_locator:
label: CONTENTS / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / ANDREW LANG.; lines 1839-1964
start: '1839'
end: '1964'
translation: 'Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told
to the Piccaninnies'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'The passage contains the end of a tale in which women flee Goomblegubbon
with their children, cross a river with help from other men, and disappear after
burning the camp and surrounding country. It then gives the tale of Mooregoo the
Mopoke, who refuses Bahloo the Moon a rug or weapons; Bahloo makes a bark shelter,
rain floods the country, Mooregoo drowns, and his possessions are destroyed. The
passage then begins the tale of Ouyan the Curlew: urged by his mother Bleargah
to hunt emu, Ouyan instead cuts flesh from his own legs to feed the women, who
eat it, sicken, discover the deception, and prepare to beat him.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Women say they are running away from their husband Goomblegubbon because he
would not lend them a dayoorl to grind doonburr, and because they fear starvation
and his pursuit.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Two men say they want wives and agree to take the women and care for the children.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The men swim across the river, carrying the children first and then the women,
because the women cannot swim.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Goomblegubbon returns from hunting, finds his wives and children gone, sees
their tracks toward the river, becomes angry, and vows to kill them.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Goomblegubbon sees the fugitives in a camp across the river but cannot swim
across, and they do not answer his call to cross him over.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: By morning the opposite camp is deserted and burned, and the surrounding country
is burned so that tracks cannot be found.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Mooregoo the Mopoke has made many boomerangs, nullah-nullahs, spears, neilahmans,
and opossum rugs, with carving, painted designs, and sewn sinews.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Bahloo the Moon asks Mooregoo to lend or give him an opossum rug, and then
asks for weapons; Mooregoo refuses each request.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Bahloo makes a bark dardurr for himself; afterward rain falls until the whole
country is flooded.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: Mooregoo drowns; his weapons float apart, and his rugs rot in the water.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Bleargah the hawk tells her son Ouyan to take his spears, kill an emu, and
hunt like other men so the women will not laugh at him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: Ouyan fails to get an emu and decides to cut flesh from his own legs rather
than return without food.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: Ouyan gives the cut flesh to his mother and the women, saying there is enough
for the night and that he will go again the next day.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:14
text: The women cook and eat the flesh hungrily and afterward feel ill.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:15
text: Bleargah becomes suspicious of the meat, sends two women to follow Ouyan,
and they see him cutting flesh from his own limbs.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:16
text: Bleargah sees Ouyan's mutilated limbs, says he deceived them and made them
sicken, and calls for the women to beat him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Goomblegubbon's wives
description: Women who flee their husband with their children because he will not
lend a grinding implement and they fear starvation and death.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Goomblegubbon's children
description: Children taken across the river by the men during the flight from Goomblegubbon.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Two black fellows from the back country
description: Men who want wives, agree to care for the children, and swim the women
and children across the river.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Goomblegubbon
description: Husband who returns from hunting, finds his wives and children gone,
follows their tracks, and cannot cross the river.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Mooregoo the Mopoke
description: A solitary maker of weapons and opossum rugs who refuses Bahloo's requests
and drowns in the flood.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Bahloo the Moon
description: The moon, who asks Mooregoo for a rug and weapons, then makes a bark
shelter before the flood.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Bleargah the hawk
description: Mother of Ouyan, who orders him to hunt emu, becomes suspicious of
the meat, and later calls for him to be beaten.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:14
- ev:15
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Ouyan the curlew
description: Son of Bleargah who fails to kill emu and cuts flesh from his own limbs
to feed the women.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Two women living with Bleargah
description: Women who eat the flesh and later follow Ouyan, discovering he is cutting
flesh from himself.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
roles:
- id: role:1
label: fleeing wives
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: They state that they are running away from their husband and later cross
the river with new companions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: children carried in flight
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The men carry each child across the river before carrying the women.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: helpers and new husbands
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They want wives, promise to care for the children, and transport the group
across the river.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: pursuing husband
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: He follows the tracks of his wives and children and vows to kill them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: possessive maker of goods
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: He is proud of the goods he made and refuses to lend or give them to Bahloo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: moon requester and shelter maker
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Bahloo asks for a rug and weapons, then cuts bark and makes a dardurr for
himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: mother demanding food
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Bleargah tells Ouyan to hunt emu because she and the women are hungry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:8
label: self-wounding provider
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Ouyan cuts flesh from his own limbs and brings it back as food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:14
- id: role:9
label: witnesses to hidden act
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Bleargah sends the women to follow Ouyan, and they see him cutting flesh
from his own limbs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: river crossing
literal_form: river
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: burned camp and country
literal_form: fire set to camp and surrounding country
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: crafted weapons
literal_form: boomerangs, nullah-nullahs, spears, and neilahmans
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: sym:4
label: opossum rugs
literal_form: opossum rugs, painted and sewn with sinews
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: bark shelter
literal_form: dardurr made from bark
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: flood water
literal_form: rain and flood covering the whole country
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: hunting spears
literal_form: spears taken by Ouyan to hunt emu
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:8
label: self-cut flesh
literal_form: flesh cut from Ouyan's own limbs and brought as food
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: sym:9
label: comebo
literal_form: cutting implement used by Ouyan on his leg
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: flight across the river
summary: The women and children flee Goomblegubbon, are accepted by two men, and
are carried across the river because the women cannot swim.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: pursuit blocked by water and erased tracks
summary: Goomblegubbon follows the tracks to the river, sees the fugitives across
the water, cannot cross, and later finds the camp deserted and burned with the
tracks destroyed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: refusal of Bahloo's requests
summary: Bahloo asks Mooregoo for a rug and weapons, but Mooregoo refuses to lend
or give what he has made.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: flood destroys Mooregoo and his goods
summary: Bahloo makes a bark shelter before heavy rain floods the country; Mooregoo
drowns, and his weapons and rugs are ruined or scattered.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:5
label: Ouyan pressured to hunt
summary: Bleargah tells Ouyan to take spears and kill an emu so that she and the
women can eat and so he will not be mocked.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:6
label: Ouyan feeds others with his own flesh
summary: Unable to find emu, Ouyan cuts flesh from his own legs, brings it to the
camp, and the women cook and eat it, becoming ill afterward.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: scene:7
label: discovery of the deception
summary: Bleargah sends two women to follow Ouyan; they see him cutting flesh from
his limbs, and Bleargah later sees his mutilation and calls for punishment.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- ev:15
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: flight from a threatening husband across a water barrier
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The women flee Goomblegubbon, are carried across a river, and the river prevents
Goomblegubbon from reaching them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage presents escape and separation
but does not frame it as a formal heroic departure.
- id: motif:2
label: burning the camp to erase pursuit tracks
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After the fugitives leave, the camp and surrounding country are burned so
that tracks cannot be found.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches track-erasure by fire.
- id: motif:3
label: refusal to share valued goods followed by destructive flood
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
- divine_judgment
- flood_and_renewal
basis: Mooregoo refuses Bahloo's repeated requests for a rug or weapons; Bahloo
shelters himself, rain floods the whole country, and Mooregoo drowns while his
goods are destroyed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not explicitly state that Bahloo causes the flood or
that it is a judgment; 'flood_and_renewal' is only partly supported because renewal
is not described.
- id: motif:4
label: self-wounding provider feeds kin with his own flesh
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Ouyan cuts flesh from his own limbs to bring food to his mother and the women
when he cannot kill emu.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: medium
cautions: The act is not presented as ritual sacrifice and is mixed with deception
and fear of ridicule.
- id: motif:5
label: hidden source of taboo or harmful food discovered by witnesses
taxonomy_refs:
- forbidden_knowledge
basis: The women sicken after eating the flesh, Bleargah suspects it is not emu,
and witnesses discover Ouyan cutting it from his own limbs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- ev:14
- ev:15
confidence: low
cautions: The passage does not explicitly call the food forbidden; the taxonomy
link is tentative.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 1839-1843
quote_or_summary: '"We are running away from our husband Goomblegubbon," because
he would lend no dayoorl to grind doonburr and they fear starvation and death.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1845-1850
quote_or_summary: Two men want wives, agree to care for the children, and swim each
child and then each woman across the river because the women cannot swim.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1852-1858
quote_or_summary: Goomblegubbon returns from hunting, finds his wives absent, sees
the dungle empty, follows tracks toward the river, becomes angry, and vows to
kill them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1858-1864
quote_or_summary: Across the river Goomblegubbon sees a camp with strange men, his
wives, and children; he asks to be crossed over because he cannot swim, but receives
no answer.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1864-1870
quote_or_summary: In the morning the opposite camp is deserted and set fire to,
and the country around it is burned so tracks cannot be found; Goomblegubbon never
again sees his wives or children.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1872-1882
quote_or_summary: Mooregoo the Mopoke, camped alone, has made many weapons and opossum
rugs, carved, painted, and sewn with animal materials, and is proud of them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1884-1901
quote_or_summary: Bahloo the Moon asks Mooregoo to lend or give him a rug and asks
for weapons; Mooregoo repeatedly refuses to lend or give what he has made.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 1903-1906
quote_or_summary: Bahloo leaves, cuts bark, makes a dardurr for himself, and then
rain comes down in torrents until the whole country is flooded.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 1906-1909
quote_or_summary: Mooregoo is drowned; his weapons float and drift apart, and his
rugs rot in the water.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:10
type: quote
locator: lines 1913-1918
quote_or_summary: 'Bleargah tells Ouyan: "take your spears and kill an emu" because
the women are hungry and he must hunt as other men do.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used for evidence.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 1920-1929
quote_or_summary: Ouyan cannot get an emu, fears returning empty-handed, and cuts
flesh from his own leg with a comebo while crying out in pain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 1931-1937
quote_or_summary: Ouyan lays the flesh at his mother's feet, says he went far and
saw little, and promises to go out again the next day.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 1938-1943
quote_or_summary: The women cook and eat the flesh hungrily, feel ill afterward,
and the next day Ouyan again brings his own flesh.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 1944-1955
quote_or_summary: Bleargah notices the flesh differs from emu, sends two women to
follow Ouyan, and they see him cutting flesh from his own limbs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 1957-1964
quote_or_summary: Bleargah sees Ouyan's mutilated limbs, says he deceived them and
made them sicken, and calls the other women to beat him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/indigenous-australian/project-gutenberg/australian-legendary-tales-parker.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strong for the supplied passage. Motif assignments
are cautious because several taxonomy links are broad or only partly supported
by the passage.
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 passage spans the end of one tale and the beginning of two titled tales; line locators are approximate within the supplied range.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:indigenous-australian-australian-legendary-tales-parker-gutenberg__l1839-l1964
passage_sha256=b64c38baf5210fc36d66500af38a078340aca514a3c3a3c45271336de6bcd529