batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l2286-l2335
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l2286-l2335
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: THE BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT LITERATURE. / SUMMARY. / PART II. / ON THE HISTORY
OF THE BIRTH STORIES IN INDIA.; lines 2286-2335
start: '2286'
end: '2335'
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 argues that the Jātakas are valuable for folklore study because
they preserve evidence of beliefs, customs, and social life without modern European
mediation. It contrasts this with limitations in ancient literature and modern
travel accounts, describes the Jātakas as a record of an early stage of civilization,
and closes with acknowledgments to scholars who assisted the translation.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that the value of the stories includes evidence of intercommunication
between East and West and assistance to folklore study.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage says folklore study concerns beliefs and habits of people in earlier
stages of development.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The passage identifies insufficiency and inaccuracy of authorities as an obstacle
in folklore studies.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The passage contrasts the Jātakas with modern travellers' accounts, which
may transmit filtered or incomplete information.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The passage describes the Jātakas as a nearly complete and uncorrupted picture
of social life, customs, and popular beliefs.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The passage calls the Jātaka Tales a priceless record of the childhood of
the author's race.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage acknowledges assistance from Professor Childers, Professor Estlin
Carpenter, and Professor Fausböll.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Jātakas / Buddhist Jātaka Tales
description: A collection presented as preserving social life, customs, popular
beliefs, and ancient stories.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: common people of Aryan tribes
description: The people whose social life, customs, and popular beliefs are said
to be pictured in the Jātakas.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: modern travellers
description: Travellers whose accounts of so-called savage tribes are described
as often secondary and filtered evidence.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: native informant
description: An informant whose stated belief or custom may be reported indirectly
by a traveller.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Professor Childers
description: A scholar who had undertaken the translation of the Jātakas and whose
first thirty-three pages are included.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Professor Estlin Carpenter
description: A scholar thanked for reading all the proofs and providing useful hints.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Professor Fausböll
description: A scholar thanked for the editio princeps of the Pāli text, without
which the translation would not have been undertaken.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: source record for folklore and social customs
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage describes the Jātakas as preserving social life, customs, and
popular beliefs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: represented social group
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage says the Jātakas picture the common people of Aryan tribes at
early stages of civilization.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: mediating observer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage says travellers may convey impressions of another person's reported
beliefs or customs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: reported source of belief or custom
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The native informant is described as the person whose belief or custom is
indirectly reported.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: acknowledged scholarly contributor
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: The passage thanks these scholars for translation, proofreading, hints, and
publication of the Pāli text.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Argument for folklore value of the Jātakas
summary: The passage argues that the Jātakas are valuable because they aid the study
of folklore and preserve beliefs and customs more directly than many other sources.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:2
label: Scholarly acknowledgments
summary: The translator acknowledges debts to several scholars, including Childers,
Carpenter, and Fausböll.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: preserved wisdom and ancestral custom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage presents the Jātakas as a valuable record for understanding earlier
beliefs, habits, customs, and social life.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: low
cautions: This is a scholarly framing passage rather than a narrative episode; the
motif label is broad and should be reviewed before use as a comparative mythology
motif.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly treats the stories as evidence for intercommunication
between East and West.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: East-West intercommunion of story traditions
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage asserts evidentiary value but does not provide specific
tale-level parallels or mechanisms of transmission in this excerpt.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2286-2294
quote_or_summary: The passage says the stories are valuable not only as evidence
of intercommunication between East and West but also as assistance to folklore
study, defined as study of beliefs and habits in earlier stages of development.
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 2294-2305
quote_or_summary: 'The passage describes problems in folklore evidence: ancient
literature may omit important details, and modern travellers'' accounts may be
secondary, filtered, inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.'
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: quote
locator: lines 2306-2310
quote_or_summary: '"in the Jātakas we have a nearly complete picture ... of the
social life and customs and popular beliefs"'
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:4
type: quote
locator: lines 2312-2318
quote_or_summary: '"the ancient Book of the Buddhist Jātaka Tales as a priceless
record of the childhood of our race"'
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 2322-2335
quote_or_summary: The passage acknowledges Professor Childers for the beginning
of the translation, Professor Estlin Carpenter for reading proofs and providing
hints, and Professor Fausböll for the Pāli editio princeps.
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: low
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is expository and scholarly, not a mythic narrative. Literal
extraction is straightforward, but motif identification is weak and requires human
review.
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 concrete mythic symbols from the supplied symbol taxonomy appear in this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l2286-l2335
passage_sha256=7eff8d88bfcd2ae1f8adf1d28c1e8b862ca9b34ac62b1b2992239bb210507a08