batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l62-l96
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg-l62-l96
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
passage_locator:
label: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India / WARNING; lines 62-96
start: '62'
end: '96'
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: I hope no one will imagine this to be a scientific book. It is meant to amuse
children
summary: The front matter presents the title and publication details, then warns
studious or scientific readers that the book is a child-oriented retelling, not
a scientific edition. The speaker says the stories are grounded in the Buddhist
Jataka collection but have been altered for the intended purpose, acknowledges
permission to use a Cambridge translation, and directs scholars to that source
instead.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage identifies the work as The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old
India, retold by W. H. D. Rouse and illustrated by W. Robinson.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A section headed WARNING addresses the studious or scientific reader.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The first-person speaker says the book is not intended to be scientific and
is meant to amuse children.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker says the stories are grounded on a Buddhist collection but have
been altered to suit the book's purpose.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker states that some stories may be altered so much that Buddha himself
might not recognize them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker thanks the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for permitting
use of their translation of the Jataka Book.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The speaker directs scholars, folk-lorists, and scientific persons to the
cited Jataka Book translation and warns that they may be shocked if they read
further in this retelling.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: First-person warning speaker
description: The authorial voice that explains the purpose and source handling of
the book.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Children
description: The stated audience whom the book is meant to amuse.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Studious or scientific reader
description: The reader explicitly addressed by the warning.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Buddha
description: A religious figure mentioned as possibly unable to recognize some altered
stories.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Syndics of the Cambridge University Press
description: The group thanked for permitting use of their translation of the Jataka
Book.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Scholars, folk-lorists, and scientific persons
description: Readers referred to the Jataka Book translation rather than the retelling.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: authorial warning voice
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The first-person speaker states the purpose of the book, describes alteration
of the stories, gives thanks, and warns readers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: intended child audience
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker says the book is meant to amuse children.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: scholarly or scientific audience addressed
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
basis: The warning is addressed to studious or scientific readers and later names
scholars, folk-lorists, and scientific persons.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: mentioned religious authority
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Buddha is mentioned in relation to whether the altered stories would be recognizable.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: permission-granting institution
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The speaker thanks the Syndics for permitting use of a translation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Front-matter warning about the retelling
summary: The speaker warns studious or scientific readers that the book is not scientific,
states that it is meant to amuse children, and explains that the stories have
been altered from a Buddhist collection.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Acknowledgement of Jataka source and scholarly referral
summary: The speaker thanks the Cambridge University Press Syndics for permitting
use of a Jataka Book translation, says that the translation supplies the groundwork
and some borrowed wording, and directs scholarly readers to it.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs: []
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: citation
locator: lines 62-75
quote_or_summary: Title-page material identifies the work, reteller, illustrator,
publisher, and date.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; bibliographic summary only.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 76-79
quote_or_summary: "“WARNING / To the Studious or Scientific Reader”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/giant-crab-old-india-tales-rouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 80-88
quote_or_summary: The speaker says the book is not scientific, is meant to amuse
children, and that stories grounded in a Buddhist collection have been altered
so much that some might be unrecognizable to Buddha.
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 89-93
quote_or_summary: The speaker thanks the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press
for permitting use of their translation of the Jataka Book, which supplied the
groundwork and occasional borrowed phrases or verses.
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 93-96
quote_or_summary: The speaker refers scholars, folk-lorists, and scientific persons
to the Jataka Book translation and warns them that continuing into the retelling
may shock them.
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: high
comparison_claims: high
notes: This passage is prefatory source and audience guidance rather than a narrative
episode; no mythic symbols, motifs, or comparison claims are extracted from it.
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 available taxonomy motif family or symbol is directly supported by this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-old-india-tales-rouse-gutenberg__l62-l96
passage_sha256=725ca8e6b10946dfc7ce8a67290d18313e244b2dcd4a4c73a6d03038d73a3cb6