batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l476-l594
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l476-l594
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES. / THE BIRTH STORIES. / INDEX 339
/ INTRODUCTION.; lines 476-594
start: '476'
end: '594'
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 concludes a Jātaka fable in which a hawker disguises an ass
in a lion''s skin to graze in a barley-field; the ass is exposed by braying and
dies after being beaten. Editorial notes compare this tale with Aesopic and other
literary versions. The passage then introduces the Kacchapa Jātaka: a talkative
king is advised by the future Buddha, and a tortoise carried by two wild ducks
loses his grip on a stick after trying to answer taunting villagers, falls into
the palace courtyard, and splits in two.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A hawker dresses an ass in a lion's skin and turns him loose in a barley-field
while the hawker's breakfast is being cooked.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Field watchmen avoid approaching the animal and report the matter to the village.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Villagers approach the field with weapons while blowing chanks and beating
drums.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The ass, frightened, cries out with the cry of an ass.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The future Buddha pronounces a stanza identifying the creature as an ass rather
than a lion, tiger, or panther.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: After recognizing the creature as an ass, the villagers beat him, break his
bones, remove the lion's skin, and leave.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The hawker sees the ass in a ruined condition, speaks a stanza about the ass's
braying causing his ruin, and the ass dies on the spot.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The narrator states that the tale has parallels in Aesopic collections and
in medieval French, German, Turkish, Indian, Greek, Lucianic, Chinese, Erasmian,
Shakespearean, and Persian-related materials.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The narrator says the moral of the Birth Story is contained in stanzas, one
of which is spoken by the Bodisat or future Buddha.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: In the Kacchapa Jātaka, Brahma-datta reigns in Benāres, and the future Buddha
is born in a minister's family and becomes the king's adviser.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The king is very talkative, and the future Buddha seeks a way to cure his
talkativeness.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: A tortoise lives in a pond in the Himālaya mountains and befriends two young
haŋsas, glossed as wild ducks.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: The wild ducks invite the tortoise to their home at the Golden Cave on Mount
Beautiful in the Himālaya country.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: The wild ducks say they can carry the tortoise if he can hold his tongue and
say nothing to anybody.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: The tortoise bites a stick, the wild ducks take the two ends in their teeth,
and they fly into the air.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:16
text: Villagers call out that two wild ducks are carrying a tortoise on a stick.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:17
text: The tortoise wants to answer the villagers, lets go of the stick over the
king's palace in Benāres, falls into the open courtyard, and splits in two.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:18
text: The king goes with the future Buddha to see the fallen tortoise and asks how
the tortoise came to fall there.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: hawker
description: The person who dresses the ass in a lion's skin, later returns, sees
the ass's condition, and pronounces a stanza.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: ass dressed in a lion's skin
description: An ass disguised in a lion's skin, released into a barley-field, exposed
by braying, beaten, and dead by the end of the episode.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: field watchmen
description: Watchmen who fear approaching the disguised animal and report the news.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: villagers in the ass episode
description: Villagers who approach with weapons, chanks, and drums, recognize the
ass, beat him, and carry off the lion's skin.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: future Buddha / Bodisat
description: The figure who pronounces a stanza in the ass story and is later born
in a minister's family as Brahma-datta's adviser.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:11
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Brahma-datta, king of Benāres
description: A very talkative king who reigns in Benāres and asks the Bodisat about
the fallen tortoise.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:11
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: tortoise
description: A tortoise from a pond in the Himālaya mountains, carried by two wild
ducks on a stick, who falls and splits in two after trying to speak.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: two young haŋsas / wild ducks
description: Two wild ducks who befriend the tortoise, invite him to the Golden
Cave, and carry him by holding the ends of a stick.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: villagers in the tortoise episode
description: Villagers who call out when they see the tortoise being carried by
the wild ducks.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: courtiers
description: Members of the king's surrounding company when he goes to view the
fallen tortoise.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: owner or handler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The hawker dresses the ass, turns him loose, later returns, and comments
on the ass's ruin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: animal victim of exposure
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:7
basis: The ass is exposed by his cry and beaten; the tortoise is exposed by speaking,
falls, and splits in two.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:10
- id: role:3
label: disguised animal
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The ass is dressed in a lion's skin and initially feared as dangerous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: fearful observers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The watchmen dare not go up to the animal and report it to others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: armed recognizers and punishers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The villagers approach with weapons, recognize the creature as an ass, beat
him, and remove the skin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: moral speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The future Buddha pronounces the stanza identifying the ass and is described
as one of the speakers of the tale's moral.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: royal adviser
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: In the Kacchapa Jātaka, the future Buddha becomes the king's adviser in temporal
and spiritual things.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: talkative king
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage states that the king was very talkative and that others had no
opportunity for a word while he spoke.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: speech-failing traveler
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The tortoise agrees to keep silent while being carried, but tries to answer
the villagers and falls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:10
label: animal carriers
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The wild ducks hold the ends of the stick in their teeth and fly with the
tortoise.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:11
label: mocking or provoking onlookers
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The villagers' shouted observation prompts the tortoise to try to answer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:12
label: royal attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The king goes to the fallen tortoise surrounded by his courtiers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: lion's skin
literal_form: A lion's skin used to dress the ass.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: barley-field
literal_form: A barley-field where the disguised ass feeds.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: ass's bray
literal_form: The cry of an ass that reveals the disguised animal.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: weapons, chanks, and drums
literal_form: Weapons carried by villagers, with chanks blown and drums beaten as
they approach the field.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:5
label: pond in the Himālaya mountains
literal_form: A pond in the Himālaya mountains where the tortoise lives.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- water
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: Golden Cave on Mount Beautiful
literal_form: The wild ducks' home, described as the Golden Cave on Mount Beautiful
in the Himālaya country.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- cave
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:7
label: carrying stick
literal_form: A stick held in the tortoise's mouth and by the two wild ducks at
the ends.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:8
label: open palace courtyard
literal_form: The open courtyard of the king's palace in Benāres where the tortoise
falls and splits in two.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ass disguised in the barley-field
summary: A hawker dresses an ass in a lion's skin and releases him into a barley-field,
causing watchmen and villagers to fear approaching him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Bray exposes the false lion
summary: The villagers make noise near the field; the frightened ass brays, and
the future Buddha identifies him in a stanza as an ass rather than a lion, tiger,
or panther.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Punishment and death of the ass
summary: The villagers beat the ass, remove the lion's skin, and leave; the hawker
speaks a stanza saying the bray brought ruin, and the ass dies.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Editorial comparison of the ass fable
summary: The narrator compares the ass-in-lion's-skin fable with Aesopic and other
versions, including a Persian-related version involving singing.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Talkative king and advising Bodisat
summary: Brahma-datta reigns in Benāres; the future Buddha becomes his adviser and
seeks a means to cure the king's talkativeness.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Tortoise invited to Golden Cave
summary: A tortoise in a Himālaya pond befriends two wild ducks, who invite him
to their home at the Golden Cave on Mount Beautiful.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Silent transport by stick
summary: The wild ducks agree to carry the tortoise if he says nothing; the tortoise
bites a stick, the ducks hold its ends, and they fly into the air.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:8
label: Tortoise falls into the palace courtyard
summary: Villagers remark on the tortoise being carried; the tortoise tries to reply,
releases the stick over the palace, falls into the open courtyard, and splits
in two.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Animal disguised as a more fearsome animal is exposed by its voice
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The ass is dressed in a lion's skin and feared, but his ass's cry reveals
his identity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The disguise is imposed by the hawker, not self-assumed by the ass in
this Jātaka version.
- id: motif:2
label: Speech brings ruin
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Both the ass's bray and the tortoise's attempted reply lead immediately to
disaster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The two examples occur in adjacent tales; the tortoise episode is incomplete
at the passage endpoint.
- id: motif:3
label: Bodisat as moral interpreter
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The future Buddha pronounces a moral stanza in the ass story and serves as
adviser seeking to cure the king's talkativeness in the tortoise story.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage states this is a recurring Birth Story feature, but only part
of the second story is present here.
- id: motif:4
label: Aerial animal transport conditional on silence
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The wild ducks can carry the tortoise only if he holds his tongue; he is
carried on a stick through the air and falls when he speaks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The later moral explanation of this event is not included in the provided
passage.
- id: motif:5
label: Talkativeness corrected by exemplary tale
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The future Buddha seeks a cure for the talkative king, and the narrative
immediately presents the fallen tortoise caused by failure to keep silent.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage ends before the Bodisat's explanation to the king, so the
corrective function is implied by setup and sequence rather than fully stated.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The ass-in-lion's-skin tale is presented as similar to a tale in modern collections
of Aesop's Fables.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Aesop's Fables, ass in lion's skin tale
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage reports the similarity but does not reproduce the Aesopic
version in full.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage reports that Professor Benfey traced the ass-in-lion's-skin tale
in medieval French, German, Turkish, and Indian literature.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Medieval French, German, Turkish, and Indian literary versions of the ass-in-lion's-skin
fable
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is an editorial bibliographic claim; the compared texts are not
quoted in the passage.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage suggests that the ass-in-lion's-skin fable may be older than
the cited books because of Greek proverbial traces as early as Plato and a fuller
version in Lucian localized at Kumē.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: Greek proverbial and Lucianic attestations of the ass-in-lion's-skin fable
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The passage uses cautious language and does not demonstrate transmission
pathways.
- id: claim:4
claim: The passage reports a Chinese version in Julien's Avadānas.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Chinese version in Julien's Avadānas
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The Chinese version is mentioned but not summarized or quoted.
- id: claim:5
claim: The passage reports that a Persian translation of the Hitopadesa contains
a related version where the ass's vanity in trying to sing reveals the disguise
and brings grief.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Persian translation of the Hitopadesa version involving the singing ass
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage also states, following Benfey, that this version combines
the present tale with another widespread tale about an ass trying to sing.
- id: claim:6
claim: The passage distinguishes the Jātaka explanation of the disguise from Aesop's
Fables by saying the Jātaka gives a reasonable reason for the ass being dressed
in the skin, instead of having him dress himself.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jātaka and Aesopic explanations for the ass's lion-skin disguise
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: Only the Jātaka version is narrated in the passage; the Aesopic version
is described indirectly.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 476-483
quote_or_summary: The hawker dresses the ass in a lion's skin, releases him in a
barley-field, and the watchmen and villagers react fearfully, with villagers bringing
weapons, chanks, and drums.
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 483-493
quote_or_summary: The frightened ass cries out like an ass, and the future Buddha
speaks a stanza saying this is not a lion, tiger, or panther, but an ass dressed
in a lion's skin.
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 495-506
quote_or_summary: The villagers beat the exposed ass, take the lion's skin, and
leave; the hawker speaks a stanza that the ass could have fed long if he had not
brayed, and the ass dies.
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 508-527
quote_or_summary: The narrator states that the story resembles Aesop's Fables, has
been traced in medieval French, German, Turkish, and Indian literature, may be
reflected in Greek proverb and Lucian, appears in Julien's Chinese Avadānas, and
is alluded to by Erasmus and Shakespeare; the narrator also comments on lion geography
and the Jātaka's explanation of the disguise.
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 518-523
quote_or_summary: The narrator describes a Persian translation of the Hitopadesa
in which the ass's vanity in trying to sing reveals his disguise, and reports
Benfey's view that this combines the present tale with another widespread ass-singing
tale.
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 529-536
quote_or_summary: The narrator notes that the tale's moral is contained in stanzas,
one spoken by the Bodisat or future Buddha, and that the Bodisat identification
is the essentially Buddhistic element.
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 538-553
quote_or_summary: The passage introduces a fable proper, 'The Talkative Tortoise';
Brahma-datta reigns in Benāres, the future Buddha becomes his adviser, and the
king is so talkative that the future Buddha seeks a cure.
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 555-565
quote_or_summary: A tortoise lives in a Himālaya pond and befriends two young haŋsas,
glossed as wild ducks, who invite him to their delightful home at the Golden Cave
on Mount Beautiful.
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 566-574
quote_or_summary: The wild ducks say they can carry the tortoise if he holds his
tongue; he agrees, bites a stick, and the ducks take the two ends in their teeth
and fly into the air.
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:10
type: summary
locator: lines 576-584
quote_or_summary: Villagers call out that two wild ducks are carrying a tortoise
on a stick; the tortoise tries to reply, lets go over the king's palace in Benāres,
falls into the open courtyard, and splits in two.
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:11
type: summary
locator: lines 586-594
quote_or_summary: A general cry arises about the fallen tortoise; the king goes
with the future Buddha and courtiers to the place and asks the Bodisat how the
tortoise came to fall there.
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: Literal event extraction is strong. Motif labels are candidate abstractions
from the narrated events. Comparison claims are limited to the passage's own editorial
statements and do not independently verify the external traditions.
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 passage contains the end of one Jātaka fable, editorial comparative commentary, and the beginning of the Kacchapa Jātaka; the latter is incomplete at the endpoint.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l476-l594
passage_sha256=1ceb3d963f815acda4cd6ba2ef2e1fc14d082ea1e81846594b68e5afffbfb7d7