batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11632-l11771
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l11632-l11771
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
11632-11771
start: '11632'
end: '11771'
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 passage contains the end of a Jātaka in which the Buddha explains
a monk’s attraction by telling of a former birth: the monk was once a pig fattened
for a wedding feast, while the Bodisat as the ox Big-red warned his brother Little-red
not to envy the pig’s rich food. The pig is killed and cooked, and the present
figures are identified with former births. A new Jātaka begins, introduced by
a dispute between two monks over a water strainer; one drinks unstrained water
containing living creatures. The Buddha introduces a former story of wise heavenly
rulers who halted their car and risked glory and life rather than harm the young
of the Supaṇṇas, and the narrative begins with the Bodisat born as Prince Magha.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The Teacher questions a monk reported to be love-sick because of a fat girl.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Teacher says that in a former birth the monk lost his life on the day
of the girl’s marriage and became food for a multitude.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: In the former tale, the Bodisat is born as an ox named Big-red, with a younger
brother named Little-red; the two oxen do the household carting work.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A pig named Sausages is fattened with boiled rice because the household plans
delicacies for wedding guests.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Little-red notices that the oxen receive grass and straw while the pig receives
boiled rice, and asks why.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Big-red tells Little-red not to envy the pig and explains that the pig is
eating food that will lead to death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Men later kill Sausages and cook him in various ways.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Little-red concludes that grass, straw, and chaff are better than the pig’s
rice because they do no harm and indicate longer life.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The Teacher identifies Sausages as the present love-sick monk, Little-red
as Ānanda, and Big-red as himself.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Two young monks travel together; one owns a strainer and later refuses to
lend it after a dispute.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The monk without the strainer drinks unstrained water that is described as
containing living things.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The Teacher says that wise men once stopped their car while fleeing over the
mighty deep so as not to cause pain to living beings, and that they gave up glory
and even life for the young of the Supaṇṇas.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: The next embedded tale begins with the Bodisat born as Prince Magha, later
called Magha the young Brāhman, who gives gifts and keeps the Five Commandments.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Master / Teacher
description: The Buddha figure who questions the monks, tells the Jātaka tales,
proclaims the Truths, and identifies former births.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Love-sick monk
description: A monk attracted by a fat girl; identified by the Teacher as the former
pig Sausages.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fat girl / wedding daughter
description: The object of the monk’s attraction in the present frame; in the former
tale, a family’s only daughter is being married.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bodisat as Big-red
description: An ox in the household, elder brother of Little-red, who explains the
danger of the pig’s rich food; identified as the Teacher himself.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Little-red
description: The younger ox brother who envies the pig’s food, receives Big-red’s
warning, and later recognizes the value of harmless food; identified as Ānanda.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Sausages the pig
description: A pig fattened on boiled rice for a wedding feast, then killed and
cooked; identified as the former birth of the love-sick monk.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Household parents and men
description: The family members who prepare for the daughter’s wedding and the men
who kill and cook the pig.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Two young monks in the water-strainer episode
description: Two monks traveling together from Sāvatthi toward Jetavana; one owns
a strainer and the other drinks unstrained water after a dispute.
role_refs:
- role:8
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Monk without a strainer
description: The monk who cannot borrow the strainer and knowingly drinks water
with living creatures in it.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Wise men ruling in heaven
description: Former wise rulers who halt their car in flight rather than harm living
beings, giving up glory and life for the young of the Supaṇṇas.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Young of the Supaṇṇas
description: Young creatures for whose sake the wise men are said to give up glory
and life.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Bodisat as Prince Magha
description: The Bodisat born in the village of Macala as a nobleman’s son, named
Prince Magha and later known as Magha the young Brāhman.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: teacher and revealer of former births
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher questions monks, tells past-life stories, and sums up identities
across births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:2
label: admonished monk with recurring harmful attachment
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The monk is love-sick in the present and is said to have lost his life through
the same woman in a former birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: marriage-linked object of desire
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The present attraction concerns a fat girl; the former-birth tale centers
on a daughter’s wedding, and the Teacher connects the girl across births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: wise elder animal adviser
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Big-red warns Little-red that the pig’s rich food is dangerous and not to
be envied.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: younger questioner who learns
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Little-red asks about the pig’s food and later acknowledges the lesson after
the pig is killed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: fattened animal destined for feast
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Sausages is fed boiled rice to be used for wedding guests and is later killed
and cooked.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: feast preparers
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The household fattens the pig for the wedding feast and men later kill and
cook him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: quarreling companions
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The two young monks travel together, share a strainer at first, and then
dispute.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: violator of water-straining rule
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The monk knowingly drinks unstrained water with living creatures in it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: merciful rulers who renounce victory
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: They stop their car while defeated and in flight rather than harm living
beings, sacrificing glory and life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:11
label: vulnerable young beings protected from harm
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The young of the Supaṇṇas are the beings for whose sake the wise men give
up glory and life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:12
label: Bodisat in new former-birth narrative
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The passage begins the new tale by naming the Bodisat as Prince Magha, a
giver of gifts and keeper of commandments.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: deadly food
literal_form: boiled rice given to Sausages the pig
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: humble life-preserving food
literal_form: grass, straw, and chaff eaten by the oxen
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: wedding feast
literal_form: feast of delicacies for guests at the daughter’s wedding
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: water containing living creatures
literal_form: unstrained water with living things in it
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: strainer
literal_form: water strainer used by the monks
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: halted car
literal_form: car stopped while the wise men flee over the mighty deep
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: young of the Supaṇṇas
literal_form: young creatures protected from pain
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Present-life admonition of the love-sick monk
summary: The Teacher questions a monk about his attraction to a fat girl and introduces
a former-birth explanation in which the monk lost his life because of her.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Big-red explains the pig’s dangerous privilege
summary: In the former tale, Big-red and Little-red work as oxen while the pig Sausages
is fed boiled rice for a coming wedding feast; Big-red warns that this rich food
is food of death.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Sausages is killed and Little-red learns
summary: The pig is killed and cooked, after which Little-red says the oxen’s grass,
straw, and chaff are far better because they do no harm and signal longer life.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Jātaka identities are revealed
summary: The Teacher says the former pig was the present love-sick monk, the fat
girl is the same, Little-red was Ānanda, and Big-red was himself.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Dispute over the water strainer
summary: Two monks traveling toward Jetavana quarrel; the owner refuses to lend
the strainer, and the other monk drinks unstrained water containing living creatures.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Example of merciful heavenly rulers
summary: The Teacher introduces a former tale in which wise heavenly rulers halt
their car while in retreat rather than harm living beings, giving up glory and
life for the young of the Supaṇṇas.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Beginning of Prince Magha’s former-birth story
summary: The embedded tale begins with the Bodisat born in Magadha as Prince Magha,
later called Magha the young Brāhman, a giver of gifts and keeper of the Five
Commandments.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Apparent privilege conceals mortal danger
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The pig’s rich food looks enviable to Little-red, but Big-red explains that
it is preparation for the pig’s death at the wedding feast.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is expressed as moral instruction within an animal fable rather
than as a cosmological myth.
- id: motif:2
label: Wise animal teaches contentment with humble fare
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Big-red tells Little-red not to envy Sausages and says grass, straw, and
chaff are signs of longer life; Little-red later confirms the lesson.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage supports a wisdom or moral-instruction motif, not a broader
animal-symbol taxonomy beyond the literal ox and pig figures.
- id: motif:3
label: Former birth explains present moral danger
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The Teacher links the monk’s present attraction to a former birth in which
the same being was killed and eaten in connection with the girl’s marriage, and
then identifies the former figures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy term death_rebirth is broader than the passage’s
specific Jātaka rebirth-identification pattern.
- id: motif:4
label: Mercy toward small living beings over victory or survival
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- wisdom
basis: The Teacher describes wise rulers who stop their car while defeated rather
than cause pain to living things, sacrificing glory and even life for the young
of the Supaṇṇas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: Only the introductory summary of the former tale is present in this passage;
the full narrative is not included in the supplied excerpt.
- id: motif:5
label: Ethical danger of unseen life in water
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A monk knowingly drinks unstrained water with living creatures in it, prompting
the Teacher’s admonitory former-birth tale about avoiding harm to living beings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames this as monastic ethical instruction; symbolic interpretation
of water should remain limited to the literal supplied wording.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 11632-11648
quote_or_summary: The Teacher asks a monk if he is love-sick over a fat girl, says
she will bring evil on him, and states that in a former birth he lost his life
on the day of her marriage and became food for the multitude.
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 11652-11657
quote_or_summary: In Benares under Brahma-datta, the Bodisat is born as an ox named
Big-red, with a younger brother Little-red; the two brothers do the household
carting work.
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 11659-11664
quote_or_summary: The household’s only daughter is requested in marriage, and her
parents fatten a pig named Sausages with boiled rice for delicacies for the wedding
guests.
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: summary
locator: lines 11666-11678
quote_or_summary: Little-red asks why the oxen receive grass and straw while the
pig receives boiled rice; Big-red says not to envy the pig because he is eating
food of death and will be killed for the wedding guests.
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:5
type: quote
locator: lines 11680-11683
quote_or_summary: "“Envy not ‘Sausages!’ / ’Tis deadly food he eats!”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; brief quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 11686-11695
quote_or_summary: Men kill Sausages and cook him in various ways; Little-red says
the oxen’s grass, straw, and chaff are better than the pig’s rice because they
do no harm and show that life will last.
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 11697-11705
quote_or_summary: 'The Teacher applies the lesson, the love-sick monk attains the
Fruit of Conversion, and the Jātaka identities are given: Sausages was the monk,
the fat girl was as now, Little-red was Ānanda, and Big-red was the Teacher.'
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 11715-11748
quote_or_summary: Two young monks travel toward Jetavana; after a dispute, the strainer’s
owner refuses to lend it, and the other monk drinks unstrained water knowingly
containing living creatures.
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 11750-11758
quote_or_summary: The Teacher says wise men once ruling in heaven stopped their
car while defeated and fleeing over the mighty deep, refusing to cause living
things pain and sacrificing glory and life for the young of the Supaṇṇas.
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:10
type: summary
locator: lines 11762-11771
quote_or_summary: 'The new tale begins: a king of Magadha reigns in Rājagaha, and
the Bodisat is born in Macala as Prince Magha, later Magha the young Brāhman,
who gives gifts and keeps the Five Commandments.'
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: high
notes: Literal extraction is strong for the completed pig-and-ox Jātaka and the
introductory water-strainer frame. Motif assignments are cautious because the
supplied excerpt includes only the beginning of the Kulāvaka Jātaka’s former-birth
narrative.
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 were added; comparison_claims is empty because the supplied passage does not itself support a cross-tradition comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l11632-l11771
passage_sha256=caae8d822ead89ddd1a53fee8bc1e7dae6930b4f848bd06f8fbada9a4ac888d6