batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l596-l738
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l596-l738
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 596-738
start: '596'
end: '738'
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 presents the close of a tortoise-and-ducks tale used by the
future Buddha to admonish a talkative king; notes parallels in several languages
and related fable traditions; narrates the Jambu-khādaka Jātaka in which a jackal
and crow flatter one another for fruit until a tree-god frightens them away; compares
that tale to the Fox and the Crow; and begins the Mahosadha Jātaka episode in
which a disguised Yakshiṇī carries off a child and the future Buddha tests the
rival claimants by ordering them to pull the child across a line.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The future Buddha infers that a tortoise held a stick carried by wild ducks,
tried to speak, let go, fell from the sky, and died.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The future Buddha tells the king that chatterers and people who talk beyond
measure come to grief.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: The king recognizes that the admonition refers to him and afterward becomes
a man of few words.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The narrator states that the tortoise story is found in Greek, Latin, Arabic,
Persian, and most European languages, and discusses related eagle and Pañca Tantra
versions.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The Jambu-khādaka Jātaka is introduced as a tale told in ridicule of people
praising one another for virtues neither possessed.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: A crow sits on a Jambu-tree branch eating fruit while a jackal comes by, flatters
him, and seeks fruit.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The crow responds with compliments to the jackal and shakes the branch so
fruit falls.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: A tree-god dwelling in the Jambu-tree sees the crow and jackal flattering
each other and eating together, appears in an awful shape, and frightens them
away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The narrator says the jackal-and-crow tale may have been shortened into the
fable of the Fox and the Crow and the piece of cheese, while also considering
the reverse direction unlikely.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: In the Mahosadha Jātaka episode, a woman brings her child to the future Buddha’s
tank, bathes the child, and descends into the water to bathe herself.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: A Yakshiṇī wants to eat the child, takes the form of a woman, asks to nurse
the child, and carries it off.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: The mother pursues the Yakshiṇī, and both claim the child as their own before
the future Buddha’s Judgment Hall.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: The future Buddha draws a line and orders the rival claimants to pull the
child, declaring the child will belong to whoever drags him over the line.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:14
text: When the child suffers from being pulled, the mother grieves, releases him,
and weeps.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: future Buddha / Bodisat
description: Teacher and future Buddha who interprets the tortoise’s death, admonishes
the king, appears as a tree-god in the Jambu-khādaka Jātaka, and later hears a
child-dispute at his Judgment Hall.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: king
description: A king addressed by the future Buddha, who understands the warning
as applying to himself and later becomes sparing of speech.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: tortoise
description: Animal who bites a stick, is carried by birds, speaks or tries to speak,
releases the stick, falls, and dies.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: wild ducks
description: Birds inferred to have befriended the tortoise, made him hold a stick,
and flown up with him toward the hills.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Devadatta and Kokālika
description: Opponents of the Buddha described as ascribing to each other virtues
neither possessed in the frame for the Jambu-khādaka Jātaka.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: jackal
description: Animal who flatters the crow in order to obtain Jambu fruit.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: crow
description: Bird sitting in a Jambu-tree, eating fruit, returning compliments to
the jackal, and shaking fruit down.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: tree-god
description: The Bodisat born as a deity dwelling in a grove of Jambu-trees, who
appears in an awful shape and frightens away the crow and jackal.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Brahma-datta
description: King reigning in Benāres in the setting of the Jambu-khādaka Jātaka.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: mother
description: Woman who brings her child to the tank, pursues the Yakshiṇī, claims
the child, and releases him when he suffers.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:12
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: child
description: Child bathed at the tank, nursed and carried off by the Yakshiṇī, then
pulled between the two claimants.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Yakshiṇī
description: Supernatural being who desires to eat the child, takes a woman’s form,
carries the child away, and claims him as her own.
role_refs:
- role:13
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: moral instructor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:8
basis: The figure gives verses or performs an action that exposes folly and teaches
a lesson.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: interpreter of events
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The future Buddha reconstructs how the tortoise died from the visible result.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: admonished ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The king is addressed and then changes his speech behavior.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: victim of excessive speech
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The tortoise dies after letting go of the stick while speaking or trying
to speak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: animal helpers or carriers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The wild ducks are described as friends carrying the tortoise through the
air by means of a stick.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: mutual flatterer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: The frame and the Jambu-khādaka tale describe figures praising one another
for advantage or falsely ascribing virtues.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: supernatural revealer
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The tree-god makes himself visible in an awful shape and frightens the flatterers
away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: flatterer seeking food
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The jackal explicitly thinks he will flatter the crow to get Jambu fruit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: food-giver after flattery
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The crow compliments the jackal in return and shakes down fruit for him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: setting ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Brahma-datta is named as reigning in Benāres at the tale’s opening.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: compassionate claimant
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The mother releases the child when she sees his suffering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: role:12
label: disputed child
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Both the mother and Yakshiṇī claim the child, and he is the object of the
pulling test.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: role:13
label: disguised child-snatcher
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The Yakshiṇī takes the form of a woman, obtains permission to nurse the child,
and carries him off.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:14
label: false claimant
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The Yakshiṇī says the child is hers after carrying it away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: stick held in flight
literal_form: stick
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Jambu-tree
literal_form: tree
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: Jambu-fruit
literal_form: fruit
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:4
label: tank water
literal_form: water in the future Buddha’s tank
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: line of judgment
literal_form: line drawn on the ground
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:6
label: awful visible form
literal_form: visible frightening shape of the tree-god
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Tortoise’s fall used to admonish the king
summary: The future Buddha reconstructs the tortoise’s fall from the sky after speech
and uses it to warn the king against excessive talking.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Mutual flattery beneath the Jambu-tree
summary: The jackal flatters the crow to obtain Jambu-fruit, the crow flatters him
back, and fruit is shaken down.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Tree-god frightens the flatterers
summary: The tree-god condemns the crow and jackal as liars who praise each other
and drives them away by appearing in a frightening form.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Yakshiṇī abducts the child
summary: At the tank, the Yakshiṇī takes woman’s form, asks to nurse the child,
carries him off, and is pursued by the mother.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:5
label: Judgment by pulling test
summary: At the Judgment Hall, the future Buddha orders a line drawn and tells the
two claimants to pull the child; the mother lets go when she sees his suffering.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Excessive speech brings ruin
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The tortoise dies by speaking while holding the stick, and the incident is
used as a direct admonition against talking beyond measure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage gives a moral wisdom example
rather than a named taxonomy item.
- id: motif:2
label: Animal flight by holding a stick, lost through speech
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The tortoise is carried through the air by wild ducks while holding a stick,
then falls after trying to speak.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: No specific supplied taxonomy family matches this fable pattern.
- id: motif:3
label: Mutual false praise for advantage
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Devadatta and Kokālika are framed as praising each other falsely, and the
jackal and crow flatter one another before eating fruit together.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly covers reciprocal flattery.
- id: motif:4
label: Supernatural witness exposes flatterers
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The tree-god observes the crow and jackal, condemns their lying praise, and
frightens them away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The wisdom taxonomy reference is general; the literal scene is a supernatural
intervention in an animal fable.
- id: motif:5
label: Disguised supernatural child-stealer
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The Yakshiṇī has a craving to eat the child, takes a woman’s form, obtains
the child under pretense of nursing, and carries it off.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The passage stops before the final resolution of the dispute.
- id: motif:6
label: Wise judge reveals true mother through compassion
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The future Buddha devises a pulling test over a line, and the mother releases
the child because his suffering moves her to grief.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
confidence: high
cautions: The excerpt ends immediately after the mother lets go, before any stated
verdict.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The tortoise-and-stick tale is presented as occurring across Greek, Latin,
Arabic, Persian, and many European-language traditions.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, and most European versions of the tortoise
tale
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage reports distribution but does not provide the parallel
texts themselves.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage states that the tortoise tale is historically connected with
a related fable in which a tortoise asks an eagle to teach him to fly and is dropped.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: Aesop-associated eagle-and-tortoise fable
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The historical connection is the narrator’s assertion within the passage;
no independent evidence is supplied here.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage compares the wild-duck version with the Southern recension of
the Pañca Tantra, where eagles carry the tortoise.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Southern Pañca Tantra eagle-carrying tortoise version
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: Only the variation in carrier birds is described in this excerpt.
- id: claim:4
claim: The passage suggests that the Jackal and the Crow may have been shortened
into the Fox and the Crow with a piece of cheese after leaving regions where crows
and jackals were common scavengers.
claim_level: same_motif
target: Fox and the Crow fable with piece of cheese
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage phrases the relationship as plausible rather than demonstrated.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 596-607
quote_or_summary: The future Buddha reasons that the tortoise made friends with
wild ducks, bit a stick while they carried him through the air, tried to speak,
let go, fell from the sky, and died.
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: quote
locator: lines 608-620
quote_or_summary: "“Verily the tortoise killed himself / Whilst uttering his voice”;
the verses tell the king to speak wise words and not out of season."
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:3
type: summary
locator: lines 621-629
quote_or_summary: The king asks whether the Teacher speaks of him; the Bodisat answers
that whoever talks beyond measure meets mishap, and the king thereafter becomes
a man of few words.
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 630-639
quote_or_summary: The narrator says the story occurs in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian,
and most European languages; notes an Aesop-associated eagle-and-tortoise tale;
and compares a Southern Pañca Tantra version using eagles instead of wild ducks
or swans.
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 641-647
quote_or_summary: The Jackal and the Crow is introduced as a tale told against Devadatta
and Kokālika, who praised each other for virtues neither possessed.
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 649-682
quote_or_summary: In the Jambu-khādaka Jātaka, the Bodisat is born as a tree-god
in a Jambu grove; a crow eats Jambu-fruit on a branch; a jackal flatters him to
get fruit; the crow returns compliments and shakes fruit down.
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 683-693
quote_or_summary: The tree-god sees the crow and jackal flattering one another and
eating Jambus, calls them chatterers of lies, makes himself visible in awful shape,
and frightens them away.
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 697-704
quote_or_summary: The narrator says the story may have lost its point outside regions
where crows and jackals are common scavengers and may have been shortened into
the Fox and the Crow with cheese, while the reverse development is considered
unlikely.
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 706-719
quote_or_summary: The next tale is introduced as showing how a wise man solves a
difficulty; in the Mahosadha Jātaka, a woman takes her child to the future Buddha’s
tank, bathes the child, and enters the water to bathe herself.
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 720-730
quote_or_summary: A Yakshiṇī sees the child, wants to eat it, takes a woman’s form,
asks whether the child belongs to the mother, asks to nurse it, nurses briefly,
carries it off, and claims it as hers when the mother pursues her.
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 731-737
quote_or_summary: The disputing mother and Yakshiṇī pass the future Buddha’s Judgment
Hall; he hears them, summons them, asks if they will accept his decision, draws
a line, and tells them to pull the child across it.
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:12
type: summary
locator: line 738
quote_or_summary: When the two pull the child, the mother sees his suffering, grieves
as if her heart would break, lets him go, and stands weeping.
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 passage is explicit about the events and several comparative links. Motif
taxonomy assignments are limited because many fable patterns in the excerpt do
not map directly to the supplied motif-family list.
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: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Comparisons are limited to those stated by the passage itself.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l596-l738
passage_sha256=0fa970836de6d67e1ee1e94797660c90b3d166900a72b742a8e23c36d0a307f7