batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11495-l11629
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11495-l11629
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 THOROUGHBRED. / END OF THE STORY OF THE FORD. / END
OF THE STORY ON CONSTANCY. / END OF THE STORY OF THE BULL WHO WON THE BET.; lines
11495-11629
start: '11495'
end: '11629'
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: Whene’er the load be heavy, / Where’er the ruts be deep, / Let them yoke
‘Blackie’ then, / And he will drag the load!
summary: In a Jātaka frame, the Buddha explains that in a former birth as a black
bull he alone could drag a burden others could not. The bull, raised by a poor
old woman as her son, works for hire to relieve her poverty, drags five hundred
carts across a ford after negotiating wages, insists on the full agreed payment,
and returns exhausted to his foster mother, who cares for him. The Buddha identifies
the old woman as Uppala-vaṇṇā and the bull as himself.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Monks in the Lecture Hall praise the unequalled power of the Tathāgata after
the Double Miracle and Descent from Heaven.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Teacher says that even in a former animal birth no one else could drag
the weight he dragged.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The Bodisat is born as a bull during Brahma-datta’s reign in Benares.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: An old woman receives the young calf, brings him up like a son, and feeds
him on gruel and rice.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The bull grows up black, quiet, good-tempered, and tolerant of village children
playing on him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The bull decides to work for hire in order to relieve the old woman’s poverty.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: A caravan owner’s many bullocks cannot drag the carts across the ford, even
with five hundred pairs yoked in a row.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The bull drags all five hundred carts across after being promised one thousand
pieces, then refuses to move when initially paid only five hundred pennies.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: After receiving the full payment, the bull returns to the old woman exhausted,
and she bathes, oils, gives drink to, and feeds him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: The Buddha identifies the old woman as Uppala-vaṇṇā and the black bull as
himself in a former birth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Teacher / Supreme Buddha / Tathāgata
description: The Buddha addresses the monks, tells the former-birth tale, gives
the stanza, and identifies the figures of the past life.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Monks
description: The monks discuss and praise the Teacher’s unequalled power in the
Lecture Hall.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Bodisat / the old woman’s Blackie / Black Bull
description: A black bull, raised by an old woman, who works to relieve her poverty
and drags five hundred carts across a ford.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Old woman
description: A poor woman who raises the calf like a son and later cares for him
when he returns exhausted.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Young caravan owner
description: A caravan owner with five hundred bullock-waggons who bargains with
the bull and pays him for dragging the carts.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Herdsmen
description: Local herdsmen tell the caravan owner that the bull has no owner thereabouts
and later inform the old woman what happened.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Village children
description: Children play with the gentle bull and later run toward him when they
see the bundle around his neck.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Teacher and past-life narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher explains the relevance of a former animal birth and sums up the
Jātaka.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: role:2
label: Audience praising the Teacher’s power
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The monks discuss the Tathāgata’s unequalled power in the Lecture Hall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: Bodhisattva in animal birth
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage says the Bodisat returned to life as a bull and the Buddha later
identifies Blackie as himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
- id: role:4
label: Unmatched load-bearer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The bull alone drags carts that other bullocks could not move.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: Foster mother and caretaker
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The old woman raises the bull like a son and later bathes, oils, gives drink
to, and feeds him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: Employer and paymaster
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The caravan owner promises wages, yokes the bull to the carts, and eventually
pays the agreed thousand pieces.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: Local witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The herdsmen answer the caravan owner and later explain events to the old
woman.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: Child onlookers
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The children play on the bull and later notice the bundle around his neck.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Black bull
literal_form: A bull described as black as collyrium and known as the old woman’s
Blackie.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:9
- id: sym:2
label: Heavy load and yoke
literal_form: The carts and the yoking of the bull to drag them over the ford.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: sym:3
label: Ford crossing
literal_form: A neighbouring ford where the caravan’s five hundred bullock-waggons
cannot be dragged across until Blackie is yoked.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: Five hundred carts
literal_form: Five hundred bullock-waggons that require dragging across the ford.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: Wage bundle around the neck
literal_form: Coins wrapped in a cloth bundle and tied or hung around the bull’s
neck.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: Warm water and oil
literal_form: Warm water used to bathe the exhausted bull and oil rubbed over him
by the old woman.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Jetavana frame discussion
summary: After the Double Miracle and Descent from Heaven, monks praise the Tathāgata’s
power; the Teacher responds by introducing a former-birth tale about dragging
an unmatched weight.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Old woman raises the calf
summary: In Benares, the Bodisat is born as a bull and, as a calf, is given to an
old woman, who raises him like a son.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Bull resolves to earn wages
summary: The bull recognizes the old woman’s poverty and decides to seek work for
hire to relieve her distress.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Caravan stuck at the ford
summary: A caravan owner arrives with five hundred wagons whose bullocks cannot
move the carts across the ford, and he seeks a strong bull among the village cattle.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Dragging the carts and enforcing the bargain
summary: After being promised one thousand pieces, the bull drags all the carts
across; when given only five hundred pennies, he blocks the front cart until the
full amount is tied around his neck.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Return to the old woman
summary: The exhausted bull returns to the old woman with the payment; she questions
why he endured such pain and cares for him with bathing, oil, drink, and food.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Jātaka identification
summary: The Teacher states that only the Black Bull could drag the load and identifies
the old woman as Uppala-vaṇṇā and the bull as himself.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Animal Bodhisattva bears an unmatched burden
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Teacher frames the story as a former animal birth in which he alone could
drag a weight others could not; in the tale, the bull drags five hundred carts
that other bullocks cannot move.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as a lesson in power and virtue rather than
as a named comparative motif.
- id: motif:2
label: Repayment of foster care through labor
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The bull, raised by the old woman like a son, decides to work for hire to
relieve her poverty and returns with wages for her benefit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The motive is explicit, but broader comparative classification would require
external evidence not supplied here.
- id: motif:3
label: Morally intelligent animal insists on fair payment
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The bull refuses to go until promised wages, recognizes that the first payment
is below the agreed rate, blocks the cart, and moves on only after the full amount
is paid.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference to wisdom is broad; the passage specifically shows
practical discernment about a bargain.
- id: motif:4
label: Human-animal foster kinship
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The old woman treats the bull like a son, the bull calls her his mother in
thought, and she tends him tenderly after his labor.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage states the kinship language directly, but its comparative
scope is not established within the passage.
- id: motif:5
label: Former-birth identity revealed in a Jātaka frame
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The story begins with the Bodisat returned to life as a bull and ends with
the Buddha identifying the black bull as himself and the old woman as Uppala-vaṇṇā.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The death_rebirth taxonomy reference is broad; the passage’s specific
form is Jātaka recollection and identification.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11503-11527
quote_or_summary: At Jetavana, after the Double Miracle and Descent from Heaven,
monks praise the Tathāgata’s unequalled power; the Teacher says that in a former
animal birth no one else could drag the weight he dragged.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 11531-11537
quote_or_summary: Long ago in Benares, the Bodisat is born as a bull; as a young
calf he is given to an old woman, who raises him like a son and feeds him on gruel
and rice.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 11538-11543
quote_or_summary: The bull becomes known as the old woman’s Blackie, is black as
collyrium, quiet and good-tempered, and lets village children handle and ride
him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 11544-11548
quote_or_summary: "“My mother is wretchedly poor... What if I were to work for hire,
and so relieve her distress!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 11550-11563
quote_or_summary: A young caravan owner reaches a neighbouring ford with five hundred
bullock-waggons; his bullocks cannot drag the carts across, and he looks for a
thoroughbred bull among the village cattle.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11565-11575
quote_or_summary: The bull will not be led until promised a reward; the caravan
owner offers one thousand pieces for dragging five hundred carts, and the bull
drags each cart up onto high ground.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 11577-11590
quote_or_summary: The caravan owner first ties five hundred pennies around the bull’s
neck; the bull blocks the front cart until a thousand pieces are bundled and hung
around his neck, then goes to his mother.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 11592-11603
quote_or_summary: The bull returns bloodshot and exhausted; after learning what
happened, the old woman asks why he put himself to such pain, then bathes him
in warm water, rubs him with oil, gives him drink, and feeds him well.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 11605-11625
quote_or_summary: The Teacher gives a stanza about yoking Blackie when the load
is heavy, says only the Black Bull could drag the load, and identifies the old
woman as Uppala-vaṇṇā and Blackie as himself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is well supported by the supplied passage. Motif labels
are descriptive and passage-based; broader comparative placement is limited because
no external parallels are supplied. No comparison claims were made.
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 supplied line range includes the end marker of the preceding tale and the heading of the following tale, but the extraction focuses on No. 29, Kaṇha Jātaka, as represented in the provided passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l11495-l11629
passage_sha256=589611c08a3ae99e1a769281e3fd9ffbd4a3a484d5fdf8071f9fe1325961fe93