batch.motif.japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg-l396-l507
---
record_id: batch.motif.japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg-l396-l507
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
passage_locator:
label: PREFACE / JAPANESE FAIRY TALES / MY LORD BAG OF RICE / THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW;
lines 396-507
start: '396'
end: '507'
translation: Japanese Fairy Tales
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'Opening of “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow”: an old man keeps and loves a tame
sparrow, while his wife dislikes it. After the sparrow eats starch and honestly
confesses, the old woman cuts off its tongue and drives it away. The old man returns,
learns what happened, grieves, and sets out the next morning through hills and
woods calling for the tongue-cut sparrow.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage is set long ago in Japan in the household of an old man and his
wife.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The old man is described as good, kind-hearted, hard-working, and childless.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The old woman is described as scolding, cross, and a source of unhappiness
in the home.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The old man keeps a tame sparrow, treats her affectionately, teaches her tricks,
lets her fly in the room, and feeds her bits from his meal.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The old woman discovers that starch or rice-paste prepared for washing clothes
is gone from its bowl.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The sparrow bows, says she ate the starch because she thought it was food,
and asks forgiveness.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The old woman scolds and curses the sparrow, seizes her, uses scissors to
cut off her tongue, and drives her away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The old woman later tells her husband what she did and shows him the sparrow’s
tongue.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The old man is distressed, weeps, and decides to search for the sparrow the
next morning.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: The old man rises early and travels over hills and through woods, calling
at clumps of bamboo for the tongue-cut sparrow.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: old man
description: A good, kind-hearted, hard-working old man in Japan who has no child
and keeps a tame sparrow for companionship.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: old woman
description: The old man’s wife, described as cross and scolding; she cuts off the
sparrow’s tongue and drives the bird away.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Suzume San / Miss Sparrow
description: A tame sparrow loved by the old man; she speaks, confesses eating the
starch, loses her tongue, and is driven away.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: kind caretaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The old man loves the sparrow as if she were his child, pets her, teaches
her tricks, and feeds her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: cruel punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The old woman responds to the sparrow’s confession by cursing her, cutting
off her tongue, and driving her away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: speaking animal victim
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The sparrow speaks to confess and ask forgiveness, then has her tongue cut
off and is expelled.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: searcher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: After grieving, the old man decides to look for the sparrow and sets out
calling for her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: tongue-cut sparrow
literal_form: A tame sparrow whose tongue has been cut off.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: cut-off tongue
literal_form: The sparrow’s severed tongue shown by the old woman to her husband.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: scissors
literal_form: Scissors used by the old woman to cut off the sparrow’s tongue.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: starch or rice-paste
literal_form: The starch or rice-paste prepared by the old woman for clothes and
eaten by the sparrow.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: hills, woods, and bamboo clumps
literal_form: Outdoor places through which the old man searches while calling for
the sparrow.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Household and animal companion introduced
summary: The old man and old woman live in Japan; the old man, having no child,
keeps and lovingly tends a tame sparrow.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Sparrow confesses eating the starch
summary: The old woman finds the starch gone, and the sparrow bows, admits eating
it by mistake, and asks forgiveness.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Tongue cut and sparrow expelled
summary: The old woman reacts with anger, cuts off the sparrow’s tongue with scissors,
and drives the bird away.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Old man learns and grieves
summary: The old man returns, misses the sparrow, questions his wife, learns what
happened, sees the tongue, and grieves over the bird.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Search begins
summary: The old man decides to look for the sparrow, rises early, and goes over
hills and through woods calling for the tongue-cut sparrow at bamboo clumps.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: childless elder treats animal as child
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The old man has no child and loves the tame sparrow as if she were his child.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage states emotional substitution but does not yet show later
consequences of this relationship.
- id: motif:2
label: speaking animal confesses minor transgression
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sparrow speaks, admits eating the starch because she mistook it for food,
and asks forgiveness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No broader origin or magical explanation for the sparrow’s speech is provided
in this passage.
- id: motif:3
label: cruel punishment of a truthful animal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After the sparrow’s confession and request for pardon, the old woman cuts
off the sparrow’s tongue and drives her away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The moral framing is explicit in the narrator’s language, but later reward
or punishment is outside this passage.
- id: motif:4
label: contrasting kind and cruel elders
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The old man is kind to the sparrow and grieves for her, while the old woman
dislikes the bird and injures her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This record covers only the opening portion of the tale.
- id: motif:5
label: departure to seek lost or injured companion
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The old man decides to search for the sparrow and sets out over hills and
through woods calling for her.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The departure has begun, but the subsequent journey and outcome are not
included in this passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 396-405
quote_or_summary: Long ago in Japan, an old man and his wife are introduced; he
is kind, hard-working, and childless, while she is cross and scolding.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 405-418
quote_or_summary: The old man keeps a tame sparrow, loves her as if she were his
child, pets and talks to her, teaches her tricks, lets her fly indoors, and feeds
her tit-bits.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 419-426
quote_or_summary: While the old man is away chopping wood and the old woman washes
clothes, she discovers that the starch prepared the day before has disappeared
from the bowl.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 427-434
quote_or_summary: "“It is I who have taken the starch. I thought it was some food
put out for me in that basin, and I ate it all.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 439-455
quote_or_summary: The old woman, glad to have a complaint against the sparrow, scolds
and curses her, seizes her, cuts off her tongue with scissors, and drives her
away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 478-493
quote_or_summary: The old woman eventually tells the old man that the sparrow ate
the rice-paste, that she cut out the bird’s tongue with scissors, drove her away,
and then shows him the tongue.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 494-502
quote_or_summary: The old man asks how she could be so cruel, is distressed for
Suzume San, weeps after his wife sleeps, and decides to look for the sparrow the
next day.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; concise summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 503-507
quote_or_summary: He starts “over the hills and through the woods,” stopping at
bamboo clumps to call, “Where, oh where does my tongue-cut sparrow stay?”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/japanese/project-gutenberg/japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short excerpt used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Passage-level roles, scenes, and objects are explicit. Motif labels are candidate
descriptions based only on this excerpt; no comparison claims are made because
the passage itself does not support 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 passage and metadata were used. Taxonomy reference applied only to the clearly described search departure.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:japanese-fairy-tales-ozaki-gutenberg__l396-l507
passage_sha256=d26134c6c2a98eccaa37a4f4985c844157733c142b8189aba614f7955b6e2fea