batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l12671-l12807
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l12671-l12807
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 FORD. / END OF THE STORY ON CONSTANCY. / END OF THE
STORY OF THE BULL WHO WON THE BET. / END OF THE STORY OF THE WISE BIRD AND THE
FOOLS.; lines 12671-12807
start: '12671'
end: '12807'
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: "“’Tis those who reverence the aged.”"
summary: A Jātaka frame story explains a dispute over lodgings among monks and the
Teacher’s instruction that respect and material precedence should be given according
to seniority. The embedded tale begins with a partridge, monkey, and elephant
living near a Banyan tree on a Himalayan slope; they decide to determine who is
eldest by comparing how long each has known the tree. The partridge claims to
have caused the tree’s growth by eating fruit elsewhere and voiding its seeds
at the site.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage opens with the title Tittira Jātaka, identified as the story of
the Partridge, Monkey, and Elephant.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Master tells the story on the road to Sāvatthi after Sāriputta is kept
out of a night’s lodging.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The pupils of the Six go ahead and occupy available lodging places before
places have been assigned for the Elders.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Sāriputta has no lodging and spends the night walking or sitting at the foot
of a tree near the Teacher’s lodging.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The Teacher asks the monks who deserves the best seat, best water, and best
rice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Teacher states that in his religion reverence, service, respect, and civility
are to be paid according to age.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The Teacher says that the senior monk is entitled to the best seat, best water,
and best rice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The Teacher introduces a former time when animals investigated who was eldest
and paid him honour.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The Teacher says that after the animals paid honour to the senior among them,
they entered the abode of the gods when they passed away.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: In the embedded tale, a partridge, a monkey, and an elephant live as three
friends near a great Banyan tree on a slope of the Himālaya mountains.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The three animal friends are lacking in respect and courtesy toward one another.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: The three animal friends decide to cultivate respect toward whichever of them
is eldest.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The monkey and partridge ask the elephant how large the Banyan tree was when
he first knew it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: The elephant says he knew the Banyan tree when it was a shrub and its highest
branches touched his navel as he stood over it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: The monkey says he knew the Banyan tree in its earliest infancy, when he could
sit on the ground and eat its topmost shoots by stretching his neck.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:16
text: The partridge says he ate fruit from a former lofty Banyan tree elsewhere
and voided the seeds at the present site, from which the current tree grew.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:17
text: The partridge concludes that he has known the Banyan tree from before its
birth and is older than the elephant and monkey.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the Master / the Teacher
description: The religious teacher who questions and instructs the monks and introduces
the former-life animal tale.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sāriputta
description: An elder and chief disciple who is left without lodging and passes
the night outside near a tree.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the pupils of the Six
description: Monastic pupils who go ahead and occupy the lodging places before the
Elders arrive.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: the monks / priests
description: The assembled monastic audience questioned and instructed by the Teacher.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: the Partridge
description: One of three animal friends; he says he caused the Banyan tree to grow
from seeds he voided after eating fruit elsewhere.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the Monkey
description: One of three animal friends; he says he knew the Banyan tree when he
could eat its topmost shoots from the ground.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: the Elephant
description: One of three animal friends; he says he knew the Banyan tree when it
was a shrub beneath him.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: instructor who establishes a rule of seniority
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Teacher reproves the monks and declares that respect and privileges are
to be given according to age.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: excluded senior disciple
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sāriputta is described as the Teacher’s chief disciple and has no lodging
because places were occupied before the Elders arrived.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: disrespectful junior occupants
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They occupy the available lodgings before places are taken for the Elders,
causing the Elders to find no place to sleep.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: monastic audience
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Teacher gathers the priests, questions them, and addresses them with
the lesson.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: animal friends seeking the eldest
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: The partridge, monkey, and elephant live together, recognize their lack of
courtesy, and seek to find which of them is eldest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: eldest animal by testimony about the tree
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The partridge says he knew the Banyan before it was born because the present
tree grew from seeds he voided at the site.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Banyan tree used as measure of age
literal_form: great Banyan-tree
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:2
label: foot of a tree as night shelter
literal_form: tree near the Teacher’s lodging
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Himālaya mountain setting
literal_form: slope of the Himālaya range of mountains
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: best water among seniority privileges
literal_form: best water
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sāriputta left without lodging
summary: On the road to Sāvatthi, the pupils of the Six occupy available lodging
places before the Elders arrive, and Sāriputta spends the night without lodging
near the Teacher’s lodging.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Teacher establishes seniority rule
summary: The Teacher gathers the monks, reproves the pupils of the Six, asks who
deserves the best provisions, and teaches that age is the standard for reverence,
service, respect, civility, and priority in seat, water, and rice.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Former animals honour the eldest
summary: The Teacher summarizes a former time in which animals decided to identify
the eldest among them, honoured him, and later entered the abode of the gods.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Three animal friends by the Banyan
summary: A partridge, monkey, and elephant live near a Banyan tree on a Himalayan
slope but lack mutual respect and decide to determine which of them is eldest.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Age determined through memory of the tree
summary: 'The animals compare how long each has known the Banyan tree: the elephant
knew it as a shrub, the monkey knew it as a young shoot, and the partridge claims
to have seeded it before it grew there.'
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: reverence for the aged as moral order
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The frame teaching states that respect, service, and precedence are owed
according to age, and the embedded tale has animals seek and honour the eldest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has only a broad wisdom family; the passage’s specific
emphasis is seniority and respect.
- id: motif:2
label: animal exemplum for human conduct
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Teacher uses a former animal story to instruct monks about proper respect
and courtesy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative function rather than a narrow named taxonomy motif
in the supplied list.
- id: motif:3
label: tree as witness or measure of seniority
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The animals determine relative age by recounting how far back each remembers
or precedes the Banyan tree’s growth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses the tree in an age-test; broader symbolic interpretation
should not be assumed.
- id: motif:4
label: virtuous conduct leading to divine abode
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Teacher says the animals who honoured the senior among them entered the
abode of the gods after death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage states the result briefly and does not elaborate an afterlife
journey.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 12671-12678
quote_or_summary: 'The section is titled “Tittira Jātaka” and “The Partridge, Monkey,
and Elephant,” with the opening moral: “’Tis those who reverence the aged.”'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12679-12704
quote_or_summary: On the road to Sāvatthi, pupils of the Six occupy lodging places
before the Elders; Sāriputta is left without lodging and spends the night walking
or sitting at the foot of a tree near the Teacher’s lodging.
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 12705-12739
quote_or_summary: The Teacher gathers the priests, reproves the Six, asks who deserves
the best seat, water, and rice, and teaches that in his religion reverence and
precedence are to be given according to age; he notes Sāriputta’s status and lack
of lodging.
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 12740-12748
quote_or_summary: The Teacher says that formerly even animals judged it improper
to lack courtesy, investigated who was eldest, honoured the senior, and after
death entered the abode of the gods.
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 12751-12755
quote_or_summary: Long ago a partridge, monkey, and elephant lived as three friends
near a great Banyan tree on a slope of the Himālaya mountains, but lacked mutual
respect and courtesy.
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 12756-12765
quote_or_summary: The three animals decide they should cultivate respect toward
whichever of them is eldest and seek a way to determine who that is, while sitting
together at the foot of the Banyan tree.
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 12766-12773
quote_or_summary: The elephant says that when he was little the Banyan was a mere
bush that he could stand over, with its highest branches touching his navel.
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 12774-12779
quote_or_summary: The monkey says that when he was very small he could sit on the
ground and eat the topmost shoots of the young Banyan by stretching his neck.
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 12780-12807
quote_or_summary: The partridge says he ate fruit from a former lofty Banyan tree
elsewhere and voided the seeds at this site, from which the present tree grew,
so he knew it before it was born and is older than the others.
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: high
notes: The extraction is based only on the supplied passage. The embedded tale is
cut off immediately after the elephant and monkey respond to the partridge, so
later narrative developments are not included.
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 comparison claims were added because the supplied passage does not itself support a specific cross-text or cross-tradition comparison beyond the internal frame-and-tale relation.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l12671-l12807
passage_sha256=76579a73ffcb382537b54350e15ac17773cce31893253eacabd6fdabfb276c3e