batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1932-l1986
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l1932-l1986
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
passage_locator:
label: UNION IS STRENGTH / SILENCE IS GOLDEN / THE GREAT YELLOW KING AND HIS PORTER
/ THE QUAIL AND THE FALCON; lines 1932-1986
start: '1932'
end: '1986'
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 young quail leaves the familiar ploughed field where it feeds and goes
to the forest edge, where a falcon catches it. The quail laments leaving its own
ground and claims the falcon could not catch it in a field full of clods. The
falcon releases it for a trial. Back on the farm, the quail perches on a clod,
dodges the falcon’s attack, and the falcon dies by striking the clod. The tale
ends with explicit morals about staying with what one knows and not risking a
sure catch for a doubtful gain.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The young quail lives on a farm and feeds on seeds, weeds, worms, or other
things turned up by the plough.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The quail leaves the farm and flies to the forest fringe to look for food.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: A falcon flying above the tree-tops searches for quails and catches the quail
in its claws.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The captured quail says it was foolish to go onto other people's preserves
and that the falcon could not have caught it at home.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The quail identifies its own ground as a ploughed field full of clods.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The falcon releases the quail and follows it back to the farm for a test.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The quail perches on a large clod, dodges the falcon's swoop, and the falcon
strikes the clod and dies.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The passage closes with stated lessons about sticking to familiar ways and
the proverb that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: young Quail / Quailie
description: A young quail that lives on a farm, feeds after the plough, is caught
by a falcon after leaving home, and survives by returning to the ploughed field.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Falcon
description: A falcon that hunts quails from above the tree-tops, catches Quailie,
releases it for a test, and dies after striking a clod.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: farmer / ploughman
description: A farmer or ploughman whose plough turns up food for the quail on the
farm.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: prey protagonist
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The quail is the central figure followed by the narrative and is seized by
the falcon.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: predator antagonist
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The falcon searches for quails, catches the quail, pursues it in a test,
and is defeated.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: resourceful survivor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The quail uses the clod in its familiar field to evade the falcon's attack.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: background provider of ploughed ground
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The ploughman turns up food in the field where the quail lives.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: ploughed field full of clods
literal_form: A ploughed field containing clods of earth, named by the quail as
its own ground.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: big clod
literal_form: A large clod of earth on which the quail perches and against which
the falcon crashes.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: forest fringe
literal_form: The edge of the forest beyond the farm where the quail goes to seek
food and is seen by the falcon.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Quail feeding after the plough
summary: The quail lives on the farm and eats food exposed by the plough.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Departure to the forest edge
summary: The quail leaves the farm for the forest fringe to look for food.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Falcon catches the quail
summary: The falcon, hunting from above the tree-tops, swoops down and seizes the
quail.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Claim about own ground
summary: The quail laments leaving home and tells the falcon it could not catch
the quail in a ploughed field full of clods.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Return and fatal swoop
summary: The falcon lets the quail return to the farm; the quail uses a clod to
evade the attack, causing the falcon to strike the earth and die.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Closing moral
summary: The narrator states lessons about remaining with familiar conditions and
not risking what one already has.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: small prey defeats predator by using familiar terrain
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The quail survives by returning to its own ploughed field and using a clod
to make the attacking falcon crash.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific animal-fable or trickster-prey
category; the wisdom reference is based on the passage's explicit moral.
- id: motif:2
label: danger of leaving one's proper place
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The quail is caught after leaving the farm for the forest edge, then concludes
that staying on its own ground would have protected it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is recorded as a moralized narrative pattern rather than a claim
about historical diffusion.
- id: motif:3
label: sure possession lost through overconfidence
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The falcon already has the quail but releases it for a challenge and dies
in pursuit; the narrator explicitly invokes the proverb about a bird in the hand
being worth two in the bush.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The wording is proverbial in the English retelling; no claim is made about
the form of the underlying source.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly aligns the falcon's mistake with the proverbial pattern
'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'
claim_level: same_function
target: 'proverbial wisdom pattern: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This comparison is supported only by the English retelling's closing
sentence and should not be treated as evidence for the exact wording in an earlier
source.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1932-1938
quote_or_summary: The quail lives on a farm and feeds on things turned up by the
farmer's plough.
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 1939-1948
quote_or_summary: The quail leaves the farm for the forest fringe to seek food.
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 1949-1954
quote_or_summary: A falcon sailing above the tree-tops searches for quails, swoops
down, and catches the quail in its claws.
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: quote
locator: lines 1955-1964
quote_or_summary: '"If I had only stayed at home this Falcon could never have caught
me"'
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 1965-1972
quote_or_summary: The quail says its own ground is "A ploughed field full of clods."
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 1973-1977
quote_or_summary: The falcon dismisses the usefulness of clods, releases the quail,
and follows it back to the farm.
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: summary
locator: lines 1978-1983
quote_or_summary: The quail perches on a big clod, dodges the falcon's swoop, and
the falcon strikes the clod so hard that it dies.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 1984-1986
quote_or_summary: The narrator says it is better "to stick to what they are used
to" and invokes "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The plot and morals are explicit. Motif labels are cautious because the supplied
taxonomy lacks specific animal-fable categories.
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. No unsupported historical-contact or inheritance claims are made.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg__l1932-l1986
passage_sha256=7be07ab8f44d825a0660c016dccc6f6f6ab46300688e625acfdafd18f77b9fe6