batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9749-l9823
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l9749-l9823
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 MEASURE OF RICE. / END OF THE STORY ABOUT TRUE DIVINITY.
/ END OF THE STORY ON A HAPPY LIFE. / END OF THE STORY OF THE BANYAN DEER.; lines
9749-9823
start: '9749'
end: '9823'
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: A mountain stag follows a roe from the mountains into inhabited country
despite her warning about danger. A hunter ambushes them; the roe senses him and
hangs back, while the stag is shot, butchered, cooked, and carried away. The Bodisat,
as a tree fairy dwelling in the wood, rebukes passion in a stanza. The Master
later teaches the Four Truths, converts the love-sick monk, and identifies the
past-life figures with the present figures.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Deer suffer from the people of Magadha during harvest season and go to the
forest at the foot of the mountains.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A mountain stag makes friends with a roe from the inhabited country and follows
her down from the mountain-side because he is in love with her.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The roe warns the stag that the inhabited country is dangerous and difficult,
but he does not turn back.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: A hunter waits in ambush behind a thicket along the deer road.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The roe smells a man, lets the stag go first, holds back, and then flees when
the stag is hit.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The hunter shoots the stag with a bow and fells him on the spot.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: The hunter skins the deer, makes a fire, cooks and eats some flesh, and carries
away the rest for his children.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The Bodisat is described as a tree fairy dwelling in the wood at that time.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The tree fairy says the deer died through lust and utters a rebuking stanza
about the dart of love, a land ruled by women, and men falling under women’s power.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: Fairies of the wood cast bouquets before the tree fairy and cheer him on.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:11
text: The Master teaches the Four Truths, the love-sick monk is converted, and the
Master identifies the past deer, roe, and tree fairy with present figures.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: mountain stag
description: A stag from the mountain jungle who follows a roe into inhabited country
and is killed by a hunter.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: roe from the inhabited country
description: A young roe who warns the mountain stag, later smells a man, hangs
back, and flees after the stag is shot.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: hunter
description: A man waiting in ambush who shoots, skins, cooks, eats, and carries
away the stag.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bodisat as tree fairy
description: The Bodisat of that time, dwelling in the wood as a tree fairy, who
interprets the event and utters a rebuking stanza.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: fairies of the wood
description: Woodland fairies who cast bouquets before the tree fairy and cheer
him on.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the Master
description: The teacher who proclaims the Four Truths and identifies the Jātaka
figures.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: love-sick monk
description: The monk who is converted after the Master teaches the story and who
is identified with the former mountain-deer.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: former wife
description: The person identified by the Master as having been the roe in the past.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: love-led victim
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The stag follows the roe despite warning and is shot by the hunter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: warning companion who escapes
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The roe warns the stag, detects the hunter, holds back, and flees after the
shot.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: ambushing hunter
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The hunter waits behind a thicket, shoots the stag, and processes the body.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: moralizing tree fairy
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Bodisat as tree fairy interprets the death as caused by lust and recites
a rebuke.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: approving woodland audience
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The fairies cast bouquets and cheer the tree fairy while he utters the stanza.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: frame-story teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The Master teaches the Four Truths and explains the past-life identities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: converted listener
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The love-sick monk is converted at the conclusion of the teaching.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: identified former-life counterpart
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The Master identifies the roe as the former wife.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: mountain and inhabited country
literal_form: mountain-side, forest at the foot of the mountains, and inhabited
country
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: ambush thicket
literal_form: thicket behind which the hunter stands
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: bow-shot
literal_form: one shot from the hunter’s bow
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: fire for cooking the deer
literal_form: fire and glowing charcoal used to cook the stag’s flesh
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: tree fairy in the wood
literal_form: tree fairy dwelling in that wood
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:6
label: dart of love
literal_form: dreadful barbéd dart of love that tears men’s hearts
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: snares of love
literal_form: the stag being caught in the snares of love
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Deer leave harvest danger for the mountain forest
summary: During harvest, deer suffer from the people of Magadha and habitually go
to the forest at the foot of the mountains.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The stag follows the roe despite warning
summary: A mountain stag befriends a roe from the inhabited country and follows
her down from the mountain-side. She warns him not to come because the inhabited
country is dangerous, but he continues with her.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:3
label: Ambush and killing of the stag
summary: A hunter waits behind a thicket. The roe smells him, lets the stag go ahead,
and stays back. The hunter shoots the stag, and the roe flees.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:4
label: Hunter butchers and cooks the deer
summary: The hunter skins the stag, makes a fire, cooks and eats part of the flesh,
and carries away the rest for his children.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:5
label: Tree fairy’s rebuke
summary: The Bodisat, as a tree fairy in the wood, reflects that lust caused the
deer’s death and recites a rebuking stanza while woodland fairies honor him.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:6
label: Frame-story teaching and identifications
summary: The Master teaches the Four Truths, the love-sick monk is converted, and
the Master identifies the mountain deer, roe, and tree fairy with the love-sick
brother, former wife, and himself.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: destructive passion leading to death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The stag follows the roe because of love despite warning and is killed; the
tree fairy explicitly says lust brought him to death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage’s own moral framing includes misogynistic statements about
women’s rule and men under women’s control; the extraction records the motif without
endorsing that framing.
- id: motif:2
label: animal exemplum with moral sermon
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: An animal incident is followed by the Bodisat’s interpretive rebuke and then
by the Master’s teaching and conversion of a listener.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy ref 'wisdom' is broad and is applied because the
passage presents explicit instruction and moral interpretation.
- id: motif:3
label: past-life identity revealed in frame story
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: The Master identifies the mountain-deer as the love-sick brother, the roe
as the former wife, and the tree fairy as himself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives Jātaka identity correspondences but does not narrate
a full death-and-return episode within this excerpt.
- id: motif:4
label: wise supernatural being inhabiting a tree or wood
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
- wisdom
basis: The Bodisat is a tree fairy dwelling in the wood who interprets the event
and utters a didactic stanza.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The 'tree' reference is literal in the figure label, while 'wisdom' reflects
the didactic action; the passage does not elaborate a sacred-tree cosmology.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 9749-9768
quote_or_summary: A king reigns in Magadha; deer suffer at harvest and go to the
mountain forest. A mountain stag befriends a roe from inhabited country and follows
her because of love, despite her warning that the inhabited country is dangerous.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on provided passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 9769-9781
quote_or_summary: People wait in ambush for returning deer. A hunter stands behind
a thicket; the roe smells a man, lets the stag go first, and holds back. The hunter
shoots the stag with a bow, and the roe flees.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on provided passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 9782-9786
quote_or_summary: The hunter skins the deer, makes a fire, cooks the flesh in glowing
charcoal, eats and drinks, and carries the rest home for his children.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on provided passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 9787-9808
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat, a tree fairy in the wood, says the deer died through
lust and recites a stanza beginning with the image of the 'dreadful barbéd dart
of love,' while fairies of the wood honor him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quoted phrase from public domain passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 9809-9823
quote_or_summary: The Master teaches the Four Truths; the love-sick monk is converted.
The Master identifies the mountain-deer as the love-sick brother, the roe as his
former wife, and the tree fairy who preached on passion as himself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary based on provided passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal sequence and figures are explicit in the passage. Motif taxonomy
assignments are cautious because the available motif families are broad; no external
comparison claims were added.
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: |-
Used only supplied passage and metadata. No comparison claims added because the passage itself does not make an explicit cross-traditional comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l9749-l9823
passage_sha256=e0b022fc47808e3e131e7d8e3ff97b866173bdfa8218276b30a1c8ed2fc4c93d