batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1843-l1879
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1843-l1879
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
passage_locator:
label: SPEND A POUND TO WIN A PENNY / THE CUNNING CRANE AND THE CRAB / UNION IS
STRENGTH / SILENCE IS GOLDEN; lines 1843-1879
start: '1843'
end: '1879'
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 lion and a she-jackal have a cub who looks like a lion but has a jackal's
voice. While playing with young lions, the cub tries to roar but yelps instead.
A young lion reports the mismatch to the old lion, who says the cub's mother was
a jackal and advises the cub to keep quiet because his voice reveals his kind.
The cub leaves ashamed and thereafter keeps silent among the lions.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A lion has a she-jackal as mate, and they have a cub.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The cub resembles his lion father in shape, colour, mane, and claws, but resembles
his jackal mother in voice.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The cub plays with young lions.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The cub opens his mouth intending to roar, but produces a jackal-like yelp.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The young lions are shocked and do not know what strange creature the cub
is.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: A young lion tells the old lion that the cub has lion-like body parts but
does not sound like a lion's son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The old lion says the cub's mother was a jackal.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The old lion advises the cub not to yelp again and to keep quiet because his
voice is not a lion's roar.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The cub leaves crestfallen, and afterward keeps silent among the lions.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The other lions sniff and turn up their noses at the cub.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: old Lion
description: A lion who has a she-jackal for his mate, fathers the cub, watches
the young lions, and advises the cub.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: she-jackal
description: The lion's mate and mother of the cub; the cub takes after her in voice.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: mongrel Cub
description: A cub born of a lion and she-jackal; lion-like in appearance but jackal-like
in voice.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: young Lions
description: The young lions who play with the cub, react to his yelp, and later
disdain him.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: one young Lion
description: One of the young lions who reports to the old lion that the cub's voice
does not match his lion-like form.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: father
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The lion has a young one with the she-jackal, and the cub is described as
like his sire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: admonishing elder
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The old lion explains the cub's maternal origin and instructs him to keep
quiet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: mother of mixed offspring
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The she-jackal is the lion's mate and the source of the cub's voice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: exposed mixed-identity cub
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The cub looks like a lion but is exposed by a jackal-like yelp.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: peer group
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The young lions play with the cub, hear his yelp, and react to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: reporting peer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: One young lion reports the mismatch between the cub's body and voice to the
old lion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Mixed parentage and deceptive appearance
summary: A lion and she-jackal have a cub who looks like his lion father but has
his jackal mother's voice, so he appears lion-like while silent.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Voice reveals the cub
summary: The cub plays with young lions and tries to frighten them by roaring, but
his sound is a jackal-like yelp, shocking the others.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Elder's diagnosis and warning
summary: A young lion reports the cub's mismatch to the old lion; the old lion identifies
the cub's jackal mother and tells him to stay quiet because his voice is not a
lion's roar.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Shame and silence
summary: The cub slinks away ashamed while the other lions disdain him, and afterward
he keeps silent among them.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: speech reveals concealed identity
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The cub's lion-like appearance conceals his jackal lineage only until he
tries to roar; his yelp reveals what he is, and the elder's advice becomes a practical
lesson about silence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific animal-fable or exposed-identity
motif; 'wisdom' is a broad family assignment.
- id: motif:2
label: mixed parentage marked by inherited trait
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The cub inherits lion-like external traits from his father but a jackal-like
voice from his mother, and the inherited voice becomes socially consequential.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No more specific supplied taxonomy reference applies.
- id: motif:3
label: moral value of silence
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The title and old lion's instruction present silence as the prudent response
when speech would reveal a disadvantageous trait.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is a passage-level moral inference supported by the title and concluding
behavior.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1843-1850
quote_or_summary: A lion mates with a she-jackal and they have a cub who looks like
a lion in form and color but takes after his mother in voice; while silent, he
would be taken for a lion.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1851-1859
quote_or_summary: The cub plays with young lions and tries to frighten them by roaring,
but only a jackal-like yelp comes out; the young lions are shocked and wonder
what creature he is.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 1860-1865
quote_or_summary: '"Lion''s claws and lion''s paws ... Sounds not like a lion''s
son!"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 1866-1867
quote_or_summary: '"You are right," said the old Lion; "his dam was a Jackal."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 1868-1873
quote_or_summary: '"So don''t try it, but keep quiet, / Yours is not a lion''s roar."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1874-1879
quote_or_summary: The cub slinks away ashamed while other lions disdain him; thereafter
he is careful to hold his tongue among his betters.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is a clear animal fable with explicit actions and speech. Motif
mapping is necessarily broad because the supplied taxonomy lacks a specific exposed-by-speech
or animal-fable category. No comparison claims were made because the passage itself
does not support a specific cross-text comparison.
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 supplied passage and metadata were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg__l1843-l1879
passage_sha256=100f876f21a9a00b1d679ba058bd2164e04bbd79bada2102ec122be689f0cf0b