batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l12038-l12183
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l12038-l12183
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
12038-12183
start: '12038'
end: '12183'
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 ends a Jātaka in which Sakka instructs Well-born in righteousness,
tests her mercy while disguised as a fish, rewards her later rebirth with golden
cucumbers while disguised as an old woman, and eventually wins her as a Titan
bride while disguised as a Titan. The Teacher applies the tale to a monk who drank
unstrained water with living creatures and identifies Sakka with himself. A new
Jātaka then begins: a luxurious monk strips naked in anger and leaves the monastic
state; the Teacher says immodesty previously cost him a wife. In the old tale,
animals choose kings, the Golden Goose gives his daughter choice of a husband,
and she selects a splendid peacock before the assembled birds.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Sakka tells a female being that charitable beings became his attendants, while
she, lacking such works, has been reborn as an animal, and he confirms her in
the Five Commandments.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Sakka later takes the form of a fish and lies before her; when she realizes
the fish is alive, she releases it, and Sakka approves her ability to keep the
Commandments.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: After another change of existence, Well-born is born in a potter’s household
in Benares.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Sakka takes the form of an old woman, brings a cart of golden cucumbers, and
says he will give them only to those who live righteously.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Well-born asks for the cucumbers, affirms that she lives righteously, and
receives the golden cucumbers and cart.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Well-born is later born as the daughter of a Titan named ‘The Son of Misunderstanding’
and is described as exceedingly beautiful because of her virtue.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Her father assembles the Titans so she may choose a husband; Sakka takes the
form of a Titan and attends.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Well-born chooses Sakka as husband because of love for him in a former birth,
and he leads her to the heavenly city.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The Teacher reproves a monk by saying that former wise men offered up their
lives rather than destroy life, while the monk drank unstrained water containing
living creatures.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The Teacher identifies Mātali the charioteer with Ānanda and Sakka with himself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: In the frame for the Dancing Peacock story, a luxurious monk becomes angry,
removes his robe and lower garment, stands naked before the Teacher, and returns
to lay life after bystanders cry shame.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: The Teacher says the monk lost the jewel of faith through immodesty in the
present and lost a jewel of a wife from the same cause in a former birth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: In the old tale, quadrupeds choose the Lion as king, fishes choose the Leviathan,
and birds choose the Golden Goose.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: The Golden Goose gives his beautiful daughter the right to choose a husband
and gathers the birds of the Himālaya region on a flat rock.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:15
text: The daughter sees the peacock’s gem-bright neck and many-colored tail and
chooses him as her husband.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sakka
description: A heavenly ruler who instructs Well-born, changes form as a fish, an
old woman, and a Titan, rewards righteousness, and is identified by the Teacher
as himself in a former birth.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Well-born
description: A female being who is reborn as an animal, later in a potter’s household
in Benares, and later as a Titan’s daughter; she keeps righteousness and chooses
Sakka as husband.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The Teacher
description: The narrator and moral interpreter who reproves a monk and identifies
figures from the former birth.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Unnamed luxurious monk
description: A monk accused of luxury who strips naked before the Teacher, leaves
the monastic state, and is said to have lost faith through immodesty.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Mātali the charioteer
description: A former-birth figure identified by the Teacher with Ānanda.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Ānanda
description: The disciple identified by the Teacher as having been Mātali the charioteer
in the former birth.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Golden Goose
description: The royal bird chosen as king by the birds and father of a beautiful
daughter who may choose her husband.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Golden Goose’s daughter
description: A young beautiful goose who is given the right to choose her husband
and selects the peacock.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Peacock
description: A bird with a gem-bright neck and many-colored tail, chosen by the
Golden Goose’s daughter as husband.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Lion
description: The animal chosen by quadrupeds as their king.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Leviathan
description: The being chosen by fishes as their king.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: disguised tester of moral conduct
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sakka tests whether Well-born will kill a living fish and later tests righteousness
through the old-woman disguise and golden cucumbers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: former-birth identity of the Teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher says that Sakka was he himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: righteous rebirth subject
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Well-born keeps righteousness across changes of existence and is rewarded
or elevated in later births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: bride who chooses her husband
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: As a Titan’s daughter she chooses Sakka as her husband.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: moral interpreter
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Teacher reproves the monk and explains the connection between present
conduct and former births.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: immodest transgressor
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The monk stands naked before the Teacher and is described as losing faith
through immodesty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: royal father and marriage convener
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The Golden Goose, king of birds, gives his daughter the right to choose and
assembles birds for the choice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: choosing bride
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The Golden Goose’s daughter surveys the birds and chooses the peacock as
husband.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:9
label: chosen suitor
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The peacock is selected by the young goose from among the assembled birds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:10
label: animal king
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:7
basis: Quadrupeds, fishes, and birds respectively choose the Lion, Leviathan, and
Golden Goose as kings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: living fish
literal_form: Sakka in the form of a fish that appears dead but wags its tail
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: golden cucumbers
literal_form: A cart filled with golden cucumbers offered only to the righteous
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: unstrained water containing living creatures
literal_form: Water drunk by the monk while living creatures are in it
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: Five Commandments
literal_form: The moral commandments in which Sakka confirms Well-born
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: heavenly city
literal_form: The heavenly city to which Sakka leads Well-born
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: nakedness before the Teacher
literal_form: The monk’s removal of robe and lower garment in public
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:7
label: peacock’s splendid body
literal_form: A neck as bright as gems and a many-colored tail
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:8
label: great flat rock assembly place
literal_form: A great flat piece of rock in the Himālaya region where birds gather
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sakka instructs and tests mercy in animal birth
summary: Sakka teaches Well-born righteousness and the Five Commandments, then appears
as a fish to test whether she will spare a living creature; she releases it and
receives his approval.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Golden cucumbers for the righteous
summary: After Well-born is reborn in a potter’s household, Sakka, disguised as
an old woman, offers golden cucumbers only to the righteous and leaves the cart
and cucumbers for her.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Titan bride chooses disguised Sakka
summary: Well-born is reborn as a beautiful Titan’s daughter; Sakka disguises himself
as a Titan, she chooses him because of former-birth love, and he leads her to
the heavenly city.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Teacher applies the mercy tale
summary: The Teacher reproves a monk for drinking unstrained water with living creatures
and identifies former-birth figures, including Sakka as himself.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Luxurious monk’s immodesty
summary: A monk accused of luxury becomes enraged, strips naked in front of the
Teacher, is shamed by bystanders, and leaves the monastic state.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Assembly of birds and choice of the peacock
summary: The birds’ king, the Golden Goose, lets his daughter choose a husband from
the gathered birds of the Himālaya region; she selects the visually splendid peacock.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Animals choose kings
summary: 'Quadrupeds, fishes, and birds each select a ruler: Lion, Leviathan, and
Golden Goose.'
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: disguised divine test of righteousness
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Sakka assumes fish, old-woman, and Titan forms, with the fish and old-woman
episodes testing Well-born’s commitment to non-killing and righteousness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference captures form-changing; the test itself is more
specific than the available taxonomy list.
- id: motif:2
label: rebirth shaped by deeds and virtue
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The passage repeatedly describes Well-born changing existence, her beauty
resulting from virtue, and Sakka passing away according to his deeds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives rebirth sequences but does not present a full cosmological
map of afterlife judgment.
- id: motif:3
label: mercy toward living creatures as proof of moral discipline
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Well-born releases the living fish, and the Teacher’s lesson emphasizes former
wise men preferring to give up their lives rather than destroy life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No direct available taxonomy family precisely names non-violence toward
animals.
- id: motif:4
label: righteous-only gift
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: The old-woman form of Sakka refuses money and gives golden cucumbers only
to one who lives righteously.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The exchange is moral and miraculous, but the passage does not call the
cucumbers sacred.
- id: motif:5
label: bride-choice assembly
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Both Well-born as a Titan’s daughter and the Golden Goose’s daughter are
presented at an assembly and choose a husband from gathered suitors.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The two episodes are adjacent but belong to separate Jātaka narrative
units.
- id: motif:6
label: immodesty causing loss
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Teacher says the monk’s immodesty caused him to lose the jewel of faith
in the present and a jewel of a wife in a former birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The former loss of the wife is announced but not fully narrated within
the provided excerpt.
- id: motif:7
label: animal kingship election
taxonomy_refs:
- royal_legitimacy
basis: Quadrupeds, fishes, and birds choose their respective kings, including the
Golden Goose as king of birds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The royal legitimacy reference is approximate; the passage concerns animal
election rather than human sacral kingship.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the monk’s present loss of faith through
immodesty with a former-birth loss of a wife through the same cause.
claim_level: same_function
target: present luxurious monk episode and former Dancing Peacock tale
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The former-birth wife-loss episode is only introduced in this excerpt;
its full narrative development is not included.
- id: claim:2
claim: 'The passage places two bride-choice scenes near each other: Well-born choosing
Sakka among Titans and the Golden Goose’s daughter choosing the peacock among
birds.'
claim_level: same_motif
target: Titan bride-choice scene and bird bride-choice scene within the provided
passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The scenes occur in different Jātaka units and differ in purpose; the
passage does not itself state that they are variants of one motif.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 12038-12043
quote_or_summary: Sakka says charitable beings became his attendants, tells the
female being she has been reborn as an animal because she did no such works, exhorts
her to righteousness, and confirms her in 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; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12045-12053
quote_or_summary: Sakka checks whether she can keep good by appearing as a fish;
the crane seizes it, sees it is alive, lets it go, and Sakka praises her ability
to keep the Commandments.
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:3
type: summary
locator: lines 12055-12080
quote_or_summary: Well-born is reborn in a potter’s household in Benares; Sakka
appears as an old woman with a cart of golden cucumbers, offers them only to the
righteous, and leaves them and the cart for Well-born.
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: summary
locator: lines 12084-12102
quote_or_summary: Well-born becomes the beautiful daughter of a Titan because of
her virtue; her father assembles Titans for a husband choice; Sakka appears as
a Titan, she chooses him, and he leads her to the heavenly city.
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:5
type: summary
locator: lines 12106-12112
quote_or_summary: The Teacher reproves a monk for drinking unstrained water with
living creatures, contrasts him with former wise men who would give up life rather
than destroy life, and identifies Mātali as Ānanda and Sakka 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.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 12120-12137
quote_or_summary: In the Dancing Peacock frame, a luxurious monk angrily tears off
his robe and lower garment, stands naked before the Teacher, is shamed by bystanders,
and returns to lay life.
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 12139-12143
quote_or_summary: The Teacher says the monk has now lost the jewel of faith through
immodesty and in a former birth lost a jewel of a wife from the same cause.
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:8
type: summary
locator: lines 12147-12158
quote_or_summary: In the first age, quadrupeds choose the Lion, fishes the Leviathan,
and birds the Golden Goose as kings; the Golden Goose lets his daughter choose
a husband and gathers birds on a flat rock in the Himālaya region.
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:9
type: summary
locator: lines 12160-12166
quote_or_summary: The Golden Goose’s daughter sees the peacock, described with a
gem-bright neck and many-colored tail, and chooses him as husband.
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: The main actions and figures are explicit. Motif labels are conservative;
some taxonomy mappings are approximate because the available list does not include
exact categories for non-killing, animal marriage choice, or moral shame.
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 locator label appears to name other story endings, while the provided passage text includes the end of ‘The Story on Mercy to Animals’ and the beginning of No. 32, ‘Nacca Jātaka / The Dancing Peacock.’
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l12038-l12183
passage_sha256=72e935c0d2554569cdca04120ca26996e57c370e42ac454cb705110f20605a7e