batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11060-l11105
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11060-l11105
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: END OF THE STORY OF THE KURUNGA ANTELOPE. / END OF THE STORY OF THE DOG.
/ END OF THE STORY OF THE BHOJA THOROUGHBRED. / END OF THE STORY OF THE THOROUGHBRED.;
lines 11060-11105
start: '11060'
end: '11105'
translation: Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The Bodisat examines a horse that has refused to enter the water at a ford,
infers that the horse objects because another inferior horse was watered there
first, and instructs the horsekeepers to take it to another ford. The horse is
then bathed and fed. The king honors the Bodisat for understanding the animal’s
motive. The Jātaka frame identifies the former horse, king, and wise minister
with a monk, Ānanda, and the Master himself.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A horse refuses at first to enter the water at a ford.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Bodisat examines the horse and finds nothing physically wrong with it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The Bodisat infers that another horse, described by the horsekeepers as a
hack, had been watered there just before.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The Bodisat explains the refusal as vanity and directs that the horse be taken
to another ford for rubbing down and feeding.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The Bodisat recites a verse advising the charioteer to feed the horse at different
fords and comparing repeated use to growing tired of fine rice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: After being taken to another ford, the horse is bathed, watered, rubbed down,
and fed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The king honors the Bodisat and says he understands the motives of an animal.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The frame narration states that the Master connects the story to the present
by identifying the former state charger as a monk, the king as Ānanda, and the
wise minister as himself.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Bodisat / wise minister
description: The figure who examines the horse, infers its motive, instructs the
horsekeepers, reports to the king, and is later identified by the Master as himself
in a past life.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Horse / state charger
description: A horse that refuses to enter the water at the first ford and is later
taken to another ford, bathed, watered, rubbed down, and fed; in the frame it
is identified as a monk.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Horsekeepers / charioteer
description: Attendants questioned by the Bodisat and instructed to take the horse
to another ford.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: King
description: The ruler who asks whether the horse has bathed and drunk, receives
the Bodisat’s explanation, and honors him; in the frame he is identified as Ānanda.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Master
description: The narrator-teacher who finishes the discourse, states the illustrative
connection, and identifies the former figures with present ones.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Ānanda
description: Identified in the Jātaka summation as the king of the former time.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: this monk
description: Identified in the Jātaka summation as the state charger of the former
time.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: discerning problem-solver
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: He examines the horse, infers the hidden reason for its refusal, and prescribes
a successful remedy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: past-life identity of the Master
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Jātaka summation identifies the wise minister as the Master himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: refusing animal
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The horse refuses the water at the first ford and is the subject of the Bodisat’s
diagnosis.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: attendants carrying out instruction
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The horsekeepers answer the Bodisat’s question and take the horse to another
ford after his instruction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: royal evaluator and patron
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The king questions the outcome and gives the Bodisat much honor for his wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: frame narrator and identifier
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The Master makes the connection and sums up the Jātaka by identifying past
and present figures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: present-life counterpart
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Ānanda and the monk are named as present counterparts of figures in the former
story.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: ford water
literal_form: ford, water, bathing, watering
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: fine milky rice
literal_form: finest milky rice with delicious curry; finest rice in the verse
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Diagnosis at the ford
summary: The Bodisat goes to the ford, examines the horse, finds no physical problem,
and reasons that the horse refused because another horse had been watered there
first.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Instruction to use another ford
summary: The Bodisat identifies the issue as vanity, compares repeated use of one
thing to tiring of fine rice, and instructs the attendants to take the horse elsewhere.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Horse bathed and fed
summary: The attendants take the horse to another ford, where it is bathed, watered,
rubbed down, and fed; the Bodisat returns to the king.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Royal praise and Jātaka connection
summary: The king praises the Bodisat’s ability to understand an animal’s motive,
and the frame narration identifies the former characters with present figures.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wise figure discerns an animal’s hidden motive
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Bodisat understands why the horse refused the ford and is praised for
knowing even an animal’s motive.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents practical insight rather than a supernatural revelation.
- id: motif:2
label: remedy by changing the place of ritual care
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The horse refuses the usual ford, and the successful solution is to take
it to another ford for bathing, watering, rubbing down, and feeding.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local narrative pattern in the episode; no broader taxonomy
reference is directly supplied.
- id: motif:3
label: past-life identification of story figures
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The closing Jātaka frame identifies the former horse, king, and wise minister
with present figures and says both the king and Bodisat passed away according
to their deeds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives identifications and karmic language but does not narrate
the intervening rebirth process in detail.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The closing identification follows the Jātaka pattern in which figures in
a past-life story are connected to figures in the Buddha’s present audience or
circle.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jātaka frame-story identification pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is a comparison to the passage’s own stated Jātaka frame function,
not an external historical claim.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11060-11065
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat goes to the ford, examines the horse, finds nothing
wrong, and reasons that another horse must have been watered there earlier, causing
the refusal.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 11066-11070
quote_or_summary: The horsekeepers answer that “A certain hack” had been watered
at the ford just before.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 11071-11077
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat sees the horse’s vanity, says it should be taken to
another pond or ford, and compares overuse of one food to tiring of even fine
milky rice with curry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 11078-11082
quote_or_summary: "“Feed the horse, then, O charioteer, / Now at one ford, now at
another.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11084-11087
quote_or_summary: The attendants take the horse to another ford, where they bathe,
water, rub down, and feed it, while the Bodisat returns to the king.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11088-11099
quote_or_summary: The king asks whether the horse drank and bathed, hears the explanation,
honors the Bodisat, and praises him for understanding an animal’s motives; both
later pass away according to their deeds.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 11100-11105
quote_or_summary: The Master says he knew the man’s motive before as well as now,
then identifies the state charger as a monk, the king as Ānanda, and the wise
minister as himself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are conservative and
based on the episode’s stated emphasis on discerning motive and the Jātaka frame
identification.
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 external comparisons or taxonomy IDs beyond the supplied available taxonomy references were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l11060-l11105
passage_sha256=f1b6c6157f6c0e46aa12b0f09dfbbb421b3b4efb384ddf392f65d4cf736dfb04