batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1489-l1529
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1489-l1529
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
passage_locator:
label: THE GRATEFUL BEASTS AND THE UNGRATEFUL PRINCE / THE GOBLIN IN THE POOL /
THE FOOLISH FARMER AND THE KING / THE PIOUS WOLF; lines 1489-1529
start: '1489'
end: '1529'
translation: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A wolf is trapped by floodwater on a rock without food. He claims to keep
a holy Friday fast because he cannot eat. A fairy tests him by taking the form
of a kid; the wolf immediately abandons his prayers and tries to catch it. The
fairy reveals herself, denounces his false piety, and punishes him by making him
remain fasting on the rock for a week.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Floodwater surrounds a rock on which a wolf is sleeping, leaving him trapped
with no way off and nothing to eat.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The wolf decides to keep a Friday fast because he has no food, crosses his
paws, and pretends to pray.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A fairy sees and hears the wolf, decides to test what is real and what is
sham, and changes herself into the shape of a little kid.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: When the wolf sees the kid, he stops attending to his prayers, says he can
keep the fast the next day, and jumps at the kid.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The kid avoids the wolf, because it is the fairy and she does not allow herself
to be caught.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: After failing to catch the kid, the wolf lies down again and says perhaps
he should keep his fast that day.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The fairy returns to her proper shape, calls the wolf a humbug, says he fasts
because he cannot help it, and declares he must stay on the rock and fast for
a week.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: After pronouncing the punishment, the fairy opens her wings and flies away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Wolf
description: A wolf trapped on a rock by floodwater, pretending to keep a holy fast
and later attempting to catch the kid.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Fairy
description: A fairy who observes the wolf, changes into the shape of a kid, reveals
herself, punishes the wolf, and flies away with wings.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Kid form
description: The pretty little kid shape taken by the fairy as a test for the wolf.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Trapped hungry animal
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The wolf is surrounded by floodwater with no way off the rock and nothing
to eat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: False faster
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The wolf pretends to pray and claims piety only while unable to get food,
then abandons the fast when a kid appears.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: Supernatural observer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The fairy sees and hears the wolf’s claims.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: Disguised tester
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The fairy changes into a kid to test how much of the wolf’s piety is real.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: Punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The fairy declares that the wolf must stay on the rock and fast for a week.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: Tempting prey-form
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The kid form appears to the wolf as tender prey and provokes his attempt
to eat it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Floodwater
literal_form: Water surrounding the rock after a flood
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: Rock of confinement
literal_form: Large rock on which the wolf is stranded
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: Friday fast
literal_form: A claimed holy fast on Friday
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:4
label: Animal disguise
literal_form: Fairy transformed into the shape of a pretty little kid
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: Wings
literal_form: Fairy’s wings opened before flight
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Wolf stranded by flood
summary: Floodwater leaves the wolf imprisoned on a rock without food.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Pretended fast
summary: The wolf decides to present his enforced hunger as a holy Friday fast and
pretends to pray.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Fairy’s test in kid form
summary: The fairy observes the wolf and assumes the form of a little kid to test
whether his piety is genuine.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Exposure and punishment
summary: After the wolf fails the test, the fairy reveals herself, denounces his
false fasting, sentences him to remain on the rock fasting for a week, and flies
away.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Disguised supernatural test of sincerity
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The fairy changes into a kid specifically to see whether the wolf’s pious
fasting is real or sham.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference captures the shape-changing aspect; the moral-test
element is passage-specific and not a supplied taxonomy label.
- id: motif:2
label: False piety exposed by temptation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The wolf claims a holy fast only while unable to eat, then immediately tries
to catch the kid when food seems available.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy reference directly names hypocrisy or false piety.
- id: motif:3
label: Supernatural punishment for hypocrisy
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The fairy denounces the wolf’s pretense and imposes a week-long fast as punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The punishing figure is called a fairy, not explicitly a deity; the taxonomy
reference is therefore functional rather than exact.
- id: motif:4
label: Flood-caused isolation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The flood creates the initial situation by trapping the wolf on a rock with
no food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: Although a flood appears, the passage does not present renewal or world-scale
destruction, so the available flood_and_renewal family is not assigned.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1489-1494
quote_or_summary: A flood surrounds a large rock where a wolf has been sleeping;
on waking, he finds himself imprisoned with no way off and nothing to eat.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1495-1502
quote_or_summary: The wolf says he is caught with nothing to eat, decides Friday
is a day for fasting, crosses his paws, and pretends to pray.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1503-1508
quote_or_summary: A fairy observes and hears him, decides to test how much is real
and sham, changes herself into a pretty little kid, and lands on the rock.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1509-1515
quote_or_summary: The wolf sees the kid, forgets his prayers, says he can fast tomorrow,
smacks his lips, and jumps at the kid.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1516-1519
quote_or_summary: The kid jumps away repeatedly; the narration explains that it
is the fairy and she does not let herself be caught.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1520-1522
quote_or_summary: After trying to catch the kid, the wolf lies down and says that
since it is Friday, perhaps he had best keep his fast that day.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 1523-1528
quote_or_summary: The fairy calls the wolf a humbug, says he fasts because he cannot
help it rather than from goodness, and punishes him to stay on the rock and fast
for a week.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summarized quotation/paraphrase from supplied
public domain passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: line 1529
quote_or_summary: The fairy opens her wings and flies far away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are candidate analytical
groupings based only on the passage and supplied taxonomy; no external comparisons
are made.
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 passage itself does not explicitly compare this tale to another motif family, text, or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg__l1489-l1529
passage_sha256=be6e4c48a39259b442fe7250b59abfc397d9273fa8436dd719fc3c5ecd490eb2