batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1085-l1110
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1085-l1110
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: INTRODUCTION / CHAPTER I / XVIII / XXIII; lines 1085-1110
start: '1085'
end: '1110'
translation: The Persian Literature, Volume 2, The Gulistan
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A tyrant exploits the poor through a firewood trade and is warned by a
holy man that injustice cannot escape God. After rejecting the warning, the tyrant's
wood catches fire, destroying his property, and the holy man interprets the fire
as arising from the suffering hearts of the poor. A separate notice reports verses
on Kai-khosráu's crown reflecting on the passing of kingdoms from one hand to
another.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A tyrant buys firewood from poor people at a low price and sells it to rich
people at a higher price.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A good and holy man confronts the tyrant and warns that his injustice cannot
escape God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The holy man compares the tyrant to a snake that bites everyone and to an
owl that ruins the place where it sits.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The tyrant is offended by the holy man's words, turns away, and shows him
no civility.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: One night a kitchen fire reaches the stack of wood, consumes the tyrant's
property, and leaves him in torment.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The holy man says the fire came from the smoke of the hearts of the poor and
warns that one sigh may set a whole world aflame.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Verses are said to be inscribed in golden letters on Kai-khosráu's crown,
saying that kingdoms pass from one hand to another.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the tyrant
description: An unjust man who exploits the poor in the sale of firewood and later
loses his property to fire.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the good and holy man
description: A holy admonisher who rebukes the tyrant and later interprets the fire
as connected with the suffering of the poor.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the poor
description: People from whom the tyrant buys firewood cheaply; their complaints
and afflicted hearts are invoked in the warning and interpretation.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: the rich
description: People to whom the tyrant sells firewood at an increased price.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: God
description: Named as the knower of secrets from whom the tyrant's injustice cannot
escape; the passage also cites God overtaking the unjust man amidst his sins.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Kai-khosráu
description: A king whose crown is said to bear verses about the transience of earthly
rule.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: unjust oppressor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The figure is called a tyrant and unjust man, exploits the poor, and rejects
admonition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: holy admonisher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The figure is described as good and holy and speaks warnings against injustice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: afflicted victims
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The poor are exploited in the firewood trade, and their complaints and afflicted
hearts are emphasized.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: wealthy buyers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The rich are the purchasers to whom the wood is sold at an advance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: divine judge
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The holy man says injustice cannot escape God, and the cited line says God
overtook the sinner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: royal exemplar of impermanence
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Kai-khosráu's crown bears verses saying earthly rule passes to others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fire
literal_form: Kitchen fire that falls on the tyrant's stack of wood and destroys
his property; also invoked in the warning that one sigh may set a world aflame.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: serpent image
literal_form: The tyrant is compared to a snake that bites everyone it sees.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: smoke from afflicted hearts
literal_form: The holy man says the fire came from the smoke of the hearts of the
poor.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: crown inscription
literal_form: Golden-lettered verses on Kai-khosráu's crown about people walking
over his head and kingdoms passing to others.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: firewood stack
literal_form: A stack of wood owned by the tyrant that catches fire and leads to
the destruction of his property.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Exploitation in the firewood trade
summary: The tyrant profits by buying firewood from the poor cheaply and selling
it to the rich at a higher price.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Holy warning against injustice
summary: The holy man rebukes the tyrant with animal comparisons and warns that
injustice toward people will rise to heaven and cannot escape God.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Fire as retributive disaster
summary: After the tyrant rejects the warning, a kitchen fire consumes the wood
stack and his property, and the holy man links the fire to the suffering of the
poor.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Royal crown inscription on impermanence
summary: Verses on Kai-khosráu's crown state that people will walk over the king's
head and that the kingdom will pass to others.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine punishment of the unjust oppressor
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The tyrant is warned that injustice cannot escape God, then loses his property
in a fire after rejecting the admonition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the event morally and cites divine overtaking, but
the exact mechanism of divine action is narrated through moral interpretation
rather than described as a direct visible intervention.
- id: motif:2
label: wise admonition against oppression
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A holy man instructs the tyrant not to injure the people of the earth and
later gives a moral explanation of the disaster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical exemplum rather than a mythic narrative in the narrow
sense.
- id: motif:3
label: suffering of the poor rising upward as destructive force
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The poor people's complaints are said to rise to heaven, and the later fire
is explained as coming from the smoke of their afflicted hearts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The smoke and sigh imagery may be rhetorical or proverbial rather than
a literal cosmological mechanism.
- id: motif:4
label: transience of earthly kingship
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The crown inscription says a kingdom passes from hand to hand and will pass
to others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The crown notice is adjacent to the exemplum but appears as a separate
reported saying.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1085-1087
quote_or_summary: A tyrant buys firewood from the poor cheaply and sells it to the
rich at an advance.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1087-1093
quote_or_summary: A good and holy man calls the tyrant a snake and an owl, warns
that his injustice cannot escape God, and tells him not to wrong the people lest
their complaints rise to heaven.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1094-1097
quote_or_summary: The unjust man is offended, turns aside, shows no civility, and
the passage cites that God overtook him amidst his sins.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1097-1100
quote_or_summary: One night a kitchen fire falls on the wood stack, consumes all
the tyrant's property, and leaves him in hell-like torment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1100-1106
quote_or_summary: The holy man hears the tyrant wonder where the fire came from
and answers that it came from the smoke of the poor people's hearts, warning that
one sigh may set a world aflame.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1108-1110
quote_or_summary: Golden-lettered verses on Kai-khosráu's crown say that people
will walk over the king's head and that the kingdom, as it came from hand to hand,
will pass to others.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary supplied.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is clear as an ethical exemplum with symbolic fire and animal
comparisons. Motif assignments use only supplied taxonomy where directly supported;
no comparison claims are made because the passage itself does not establish comparison
to another tradition or corpus.
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 external comparisons or unsupported taxonomy identifiers were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l1085-l1110
passage_sha256=7c6f3a63096008ee13eb9bba741fcf1515f1fbaab59d18eeddcea241702b71df