batch.motif.japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg-l1208-l1299
---
record_id: batch.motif.japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg-l1208-l1299
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
passage_locator:
label: MY LORD BAG OF RICE / THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW / THE STORY OF URASHIMA TARO,
THE FISHER LAD / THE FARMER AND THE BADGER; lines 1208-1299
start: '1208'
end: '1299'
translation: Japanese Fairy Tales
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: An old farmer in the mountains catches a malicious badger that has been
ruining his crops and tells his wife to guard it until he can make it into soup.
The badger persuades the wife to untie him, kills her with a pestle, makes soup
of her, takes her form, serves the farmer, then returns to his own form and reveals
the deception.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: An old farmer and his wife live in the mountains far from any town.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A badger repeatedly comes at night to spoil the farmer’s vegetables and rice.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The farmer catches the badger in a dug hole, binds him with rope, and hangs
him from the rafters of the storehouse.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The farmer tells his wife to watch the badger because he intends to make him
into soup that night.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The badger asks the wife to untie him, saying he can relieve her by pounding
barley and promising not to escape.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The wife, described as good and simple, feels pity for the bound badger and
unties him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: After being untied, the badger uses the wooden pestle to attack the old woman,
kills her, cuts her up, and makes soup of her.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The badger assumes the old woman’s form and greets the farmer as if he were
the wife.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The farmer eats or asks for the soup without realizing the figure serving
him is the badger rather than his wife.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The badger transforms back to his natural form and tells the farmer to look
for bones in the kitchen.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: old farmer
description: An old farmer living in the mountains with his wife; he cultivates
vegetables and rice, captures the badger, and returns expecting badger soup.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: old wife
description: The farmer’s wife; she is left to guard the bound badger, is persuaded
to untie him, and is killed by him.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: badger
description: A malicious badger who ruins the farmer’s crops, is captured, deceives
the wife, kills her, makes soup of her, assumes her form, and later returns to
his natural form.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: farmer and trap-setter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He cultivates the fields, lays traps, and captures the crop-damaging badger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: household guard
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The farmer instructs her to keep watch over the bound badger while he works.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: malicious crop-spoiler
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The badger repeatedly damages the vegetables and rice on the farm.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: deceived husband
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He fails to recognize that the figure serving him is the badger rather than
his wife.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: deceived victim
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: She believes the badger’s promise, unties him, and is then killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: deceptive captive
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: While bound, he uses persuasive speech and false promises to secure release.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: shapeshifting killer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: He kills the old woman, assumes her form, and later returns to his natural
form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: mountain dwelling
literal_form: mountains
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: binding rope
literal_form: rope and knots tying the badger upside down
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: wooden pestle
literal_form: wooden pestle used for pounding barley and then as a weapon
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: deceptive soup
literal_form: soup made from the murdered wife instead of the badger
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: assumed wife-form
literal_form: the badger taking the old woman’s form
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Crop damage and capture
summary: The badger damages the farmer’s crops until the farmer traps him, binds
him, and hangs him in the storehouse.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: The captive’s persuasion
summary: The bound badger addresses the wife gently, offers to do her barley-pounding
work, and obtains release through her pity.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Murder and substitution of soup
summary: The badger attacks and kills the wife with the pestle, cuts her up, and
makes soup of her.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Impersonation and revelation
summary: The badger takes the wife’s form, greets the returning farmer, serves him,
then changes back and reveals the bones in the kitchen.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: captive trickster gains release through false promise
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The bound badger manipulates the wife’s pity with promises that he will not
escape and will help with her labor, then immediately attacks her once freed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage does not use the word trickster; the motif label is inferred
from the badger’s deceptive action.
- id: motif:2
label: animal assumes human spouse’s form
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The badger assumes the old woman’s form to greet and deceive the farmer,
then returns to his natural form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The transformation is explicit, but the passage gives no explanation of
how the ability works.
- id: motif:3
label: deceptive meal made from murdered household member
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The badger makes soup from the murdered wife and presents it as the expected
badger soup to the returning farmer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly names this food-substitution
motif.
- id: motif:4
label: crop-damaging animal antagonist punished by trapping
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The badger harms the farmer’s crops, leading the farmer to set traps and
capture him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local narrative pattern in the passage; it is not clearly aligned
with an available motif-family reference.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1208-1223
quote_or_summary: The passage introduces an old farmer and wife living in the mountains
and a malicious badger that repeatedly damages the farmer’s vegetables and rice.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1224-1238
quote_or_summary: The farmer finds the badger in a dug hole, carries him home bound
with rope, tells his wife to guard him, and hangs him from the storehouse rafters
while planning to make him into soup.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1239-1269
quote_or_summary: The badger, hanging upside down, speaks gently to the tired wife,
offers to pound barley for her, promises not to escape, and is untied by her out
of pity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1270-1283
quote_or_summary: After being given the wooden pestle, the badger attacks the wife,
kills her, cuts her up, makes soup of her, and waits for the farmer’s return.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1284-1299
quote_or_summary: The badger assumes the old woman’s form, greets the returning
farmer, says the badger soup is ready, serves him, then transforms back and tells
him to look for bones in the kitchen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The main actions and transformation are explicit in the supplied passage.
Motif-family assignments are limited to available taxonomy references and 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: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not explicitly compare this narrative to another text, tradition, or motif family beyond the internally supported candidate motif labels.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg__l1208-l1299
passage_sha256=ed7837e3b8c420036fee0bb2145eb0506281c56b49d9524f5ab9293ae8dacdce