batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l2521-l2635
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l2521-l2635
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
passage_locator:
label: THE LION AND THE BOAR / THE GOBLIN CITY / LACKNOSE / THE KING'S LESSON; lines
2521-2635
start: '2521'
end: '2635'
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: He conquers wrath by mildness, the bad with goodness sways, / By gifts the
miser vanquishes and lies with truth repays.
summary: King Godfrey, praised as a just and good ruler, disguises himself to learn
whether people criticize him behind his back. On a narrow road he meets another
disguised king in a carriage. Their drivers compare the kings and find them equal
in age, wealth, territory, population, and ancestry, then compare their virtues
in verse. The other king yields when Godfrey’s driver describes a superior ethic
of overcoming wrath, badness, miserliness, and lies with mildness, goodness, gifts,
and truth. Godfrey gives advice, and both kings return home and rule well.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: King Godfrey holds courts of justice and decides cases so wisely that people
stop bringing unjust causes and eventually have no quarrels.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: King Godfrey asks people to tell him his faults, but people in the palace
and city give him praise and no blame.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: King Godfrey dresses like a traveller and drives through the country asking
what people think of the king.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: A second king from the next country has also travelled in disguise to learn
what people think of him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The two royal carriages meet in a narrow lane between steep banks, with only
room for one carriage, and neither carriage initially gives way.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The drivers compare the two kings and find them equal in age, wealth, kingdom
size, population, and ancestral renown.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The other king’s driver praises his master as rough to the rough, mild to
the mild, good to the good, and bad to the bad.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: King Godfrey’s driver praises his master as conquering wrath by mildness,
the bad by goodness, the miser by gifts, and lies by truth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The other driver acknowledges that Godfrey’s king is better, and the other
king’s carriage is moved aside so Godfrey may pass.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: King Godfrey gives the other king advice; both kings return home and rule
well until death.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: King Godfrey
description: A very good king who holds wise courts of justice, seeks knowledge
of his faults, travels in disguise, and is praised for overcoming wrong with virtue.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: King Godfrey's coachman
description: The driver who reveals he carries a king, compares the two kings, and
recites Godfrey’s virtues in verse.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: King of the next country
description: A neighboring king, also good and also travelling in disguise to hear
people’s opinions; he yields after the comparison of virtues.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Other king's driver
description: The driver of the second carriage who demands passage, announces he
also carries a king, recites his master’s virtues, and then concedes Godfrey’s
superiority.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: wise judge-king
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Godfrey decides quarrels so wisely that unjust cases cease and the courts
become empty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: disguised reputation-seeker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: Both kings travel in disguise to learn what people say or think about them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: morally superior ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Godfrey is praised for answering wrath, badness, miserliness, and lies with
mildness, goodness, gifts, and truth; the other side concedes superiority.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: royal spokesman-driver
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
basis: Each driver speaks on behalf of the king in his carriage during the blocked-road
dispute.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: neighboring rival king
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The neighboring king’s carriage meets Godfrey’s in the narrow lane, creating
the comparison and yielding scene.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: conceding evaluator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The other driver says he cannot match Godfrey’s driver’s verse and admits
Godfrey’s master is better.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: traveller disguise
literal_form: King dressed like a traveller while asking people what they thought
of the king
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: narrow lane
literal_form: A narrow lane sunk between two steep banks with room for only one
carriage
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: opposed carriages
literal_form: Two carriages meeting face to face in the narrow lane, neither initially
moving aside
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: virtue verses
literal_form: Poetic speeches by the drivers comparing the kings’ ways of ruling
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Empty courts after wise judgments
summary: King Godfrey’s wise decisions make unjust lawsuits disappear and leave
the courts empty.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Search for faults and disguise
summary: Godfrey asks for criticism, receives only praise, then disguises himself
as a traveller and questions people across the country.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Two disguised kings meet in a narrow lane
summary: Godfrey’s carriage and the neighboring king’s carriage meet in a narrow
sunken lane where neither can pass unless one yields.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Comparison of equal kings
summary: The drivers try to establish precedence by age, wealth, kingdom size, population,
and ancestry, but the two kings prove equal in each respect.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Virtue contest in verse
summary: The other driver praises reciprocal treatment, while Godfrey’s driver praises
answering wrongdoing with positive virtues.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Yielding and lesson
summary: The other side concedes Godfrey’s superiority, moves its carriage aside,
receives advice from Godfrey, and both kings return home to rule well.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: king in disguise tests public reputation
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Godfrey disguises himself as a traveller after direct requests for criticism
produce only praise; the neighboring king has undertaken the same kind of disguised
inquiry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The available taxonomy has only broad motif-family labels; the specific
disguised-ruler pattern is not separately listed.
- id: motif:2
label: narrow-road precedence contest resolved by virtue
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Two royal carriages are blocked in a narrow lane; worldly measures of precedence
are equal, so the drivers compare moral qualities and the morally superior king
is allowed to pass.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the event as a moral lesson rather than as a formal
ordeal or divine judgment.
- id: motif:3
label: overcoming wrongdoing with opposing virtues
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Godfrey’s virtues are stated as conquering wrath by mildness, badness by
goodness, miserliness by gifts, and lies by truth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is expressed as ethical instruction within the tale; no broader doctrinal
classification is asserted from the passage alone.
- id: motif:4
label: ruler instructed by moral comparison
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The neighboring king yields after hearing Godfrey’s virtues and later receives
advice, after which both kings rule well.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The specific content of Godfrey’s advice is not given.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2521-2531
quote_or_summary: Godfrey is described as a truly good king who holds courts of
justice and decides cases so wisely that unjust cases cease and the courts become
empty.
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 2532-2542
quote_or_summary: Godfrey wonders whether he is as good as people say and asks people
in palace and city to tell him his faults, but receives only praise.
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 2543-2551
quote_or_summary: Godfrey disguises himself as a traveller, takes a carriage and
pair, and asks people throughout the country what they think of the king; they
speak well of him behind his back too.
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 2552-2570
quote_or_summary: In a narrow lane sunk between steep banks, Godfrey’s carriage
meets another carriage carrying the king of the next country, who is also travelling
in disguise to learn public opinion; neither carriage gives way at first.
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 2571-2584
quote_or_summary: The coachmen compare the two kings by age, wealth, kingdom size,
population, and ancestral glory, but the kings are alike in all those respects.
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: quote
locator: lines 2585-2600
quote_or_summary: The other driver’s verse says his king is “Rough to the rough,”
mild to the mild, masters the good by goodness, and pays the bad with badness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 2601-2612
quote_or_summary: 'Godfrey’s driver says: “He conquers wrath by mildness, the bad
with goodness sways, / By gifts the miser vanquishes and lies with truth repays.”'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 2613-2635
quote_or_summary: The other driver admits Godfrey’s master is better; the other
king gets out, the horses are loosened, and the carriage is pulled up the slope.
Godfrey gives advice, both kings say goodbye, return home, and rule well until
death.
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: uncertain
notes: The passage is clear for literal extraction and internal motif candidates.
Taxonomy assignment is limited to the broad available family “wisdom.” No external
comparison claims are made because the passage alone does not support historical
or cross-textual 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: |-
Extraction uses only the provided passage and metadata; comparison_claims left empty by rule.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg__l2521-l2635
passage_sha256=f3c74c2622df6123d909a9658904c319eb9454a7a1b2679e69aed61344824f13