Motif
Boasting when detection is impossible
boasting_when_detection_is_impossible
A motif of the Pride, Hubris, and Downfall family, within the sub-family Borrowed Status and Exposed Bravado. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
greek
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Aesop's Fables; a new translation THE STAG IN THE OX-STALL / THE MILKMAID AND HER PAIL / THE DOLPHINS, THE WHALES, AND THE SPRAT / THE FOX AND THE MONKEY; lines 1427-1441 confidence: high
“you're quite safe: I'm sure none of your ancestors will rise up and expose you.”
The Fox says the dead ancestors cannot expose the Monkey, and the moral generalizes that boasters brag most when they cannot be detected.
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