batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1113-l1153
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l1113-l1153
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER I / XVIII / XXIII / XXVII; lines 1113-1153
start: '1113'
end: '1153'
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 wrestling master teaches a favored student all but one of his three hundred
and sixty techniques. The student becomes powerful and boasts before the king
that he equals his master except in seniority. The king orders a public match.
The master uses the one withheld technique to defeat the student, is rewarded
by the king, and explains that he reserved the trick against possible betrayal.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A wrestling master knew three hundred and sixty sleights and could show a
new trick for each day of the year.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The master taught one scholar three hundred and fifty-nine feats but delayed
teaching one feat.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The scholar became so proficient that none of his contemporaries could cope
with him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The scholar boasted before the reigning sovereign that he was not inferior
to his master in power and was equal in skill.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The king ordered a wrestling match, with a fenced field and assembled ministers,
nobles, and gallant men.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The youth rushed into the ring and is compared to a huge and lusty elephant.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The master used the withheld feat, lifted the youth from the ground, raised
him above his head, and threw him to the earth.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The king rewarded the master and reproached the youth for treachery toward
his patron.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The youth explained that the master prevailed by a single withheld trick rather
than strength and ability.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The master said he had reserved the trick for such a day and quoted counsel
not to put so much power into a friend’s hands that he can injure you if hostile.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: The closing saying states that no person learned archery from the speaker
without eventually making the speaker his target.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: wrestling master
description: A person who had become a master in wrestling and knew three hundred
and sixty sleights.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: youth / scholar
description: A favored and handsome scholar of the master who learned three hundred
and fifty-nine wrestling feats, became highly proficient, boasted before the king,
and was defeated by the withheld feat.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: reigning sovereign / king
description: The ruler before whom the youth boasted; he ordered the match, rewarded
the master, and reproached the youth.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: assembled court and spectators
description: Ministers of state, nobles of the court, gallant men of the realm,
and the crowd at the wrestling match.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: man treacherously dealt with by his pupil
description: A cited speaker in the master’s closing saying who remarks that pupils
trained in archery eventually made him their target.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: teacher of specialized skill
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The master possesses and teaches wrestling techniques to the scholar.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: student who surpasses peers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The scholar learns almost all feats and becomes too proficient for contemporaries
to cope with.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: withholder of final technique
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The master keeps one feat back and later uses it in the match.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: role:4
label: boastful challenger
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The youth claims before the sovereign that he is equal to the master in skill
and not inferior in power.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: royal judge and patron
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The king orders the match, rewards the master, and reproaches the youth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: public witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Court officials, nobles, gallant men, and the crowd attend the match and
react to the defeat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: exemplary betrayed teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The quoted man says pupils learned archery from him and then made him their
target.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: withheld technique
literal_form: one strange feat or cunning trick in wrestling
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:2
label: number of complete annual techniques
literal_form: three hundred and sixty sleights, one for every day throughout the
year
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: fenced wrestling field
literal_form: a spacious field fenced in for the ordered wrestling match
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: elephant comparison
literal_form: the youth rushing into the ring like a huge and lusty elephant
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: brazen mountain comparison
literal_form: a hypothetical brazen mountain that the youth’s rush would move from
its base
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: teacher made target
literal_form: archery teacher becoming the butt or target of those he taught
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Partial instruction of favored student
summary: The wrestling master, moved by liking for a scholar, teaches him three
hundred and fifty-nine of three hundred and sixty techniques while withholding
one.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Boast before the king
summary: After becoming highly skilled, the youth claims before the sovereign that
he is equal to his master except for seniority and tutorage.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Public wrestling match
summary: The king orders a fenced public match attended by the court; the youth
enters forcefully, and the master defeats him with the withheld technique.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:4
label: Explanation and proverb of guarded instruction
summary: The youth attributes his defeat to the hidden trick; the master replies
that he reserved it against such a day and cites sayings about not empowering
a friend or pupil who may become hostile.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: master withholds final skill from pupil
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The master teaches nearly all wrestling feats but keeps one technique back,
later explaining that one should not give a friend enough power to cause injury
if hostile.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage presents prudential wisdom
rather than a supernatural mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: student challenges teacher and is defeated by hidden knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The pupil boasts of equality with the master, is tested publicly, and loses
because he lacks the single concealed technique.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical exemplum; no claim of mythic lineage is made.
- id: motif:3
label: betrayed teacher warns against complete empowerment of pupil
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The master frames his withholding as protection against treachery, supported
by a quoted archery example in which pupils make the teacher their target.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The passage supports the moral pattern internally but not a specific external
comparative tradition.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1113-1117
quote_or_summary: The master of wrestling knows three hundred and sixty sleights,
enough to show a fresh trick each day of the year.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1117-1122
quote_or_summary: Because of affection for a handsome scholar, the master teaches
him three hundred and fifty-nine feats while deferring one.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1123-1125
quote_or_summary: The youth becomes so proficient in wrestling that no contemporary
can cope with him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 1125-1130
quote_or_summary: "“otherwise I am not inferior in power, and am his equal in skill.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1130-1135
quote_or_summary: The displeased king orders a wrestling match, has a spacious field
fenced, and the court and warriors assemble.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 1135-1138
quote_or_summary: The youth rushes into the ring like a huge elephant, with force
that could move a brazen mountain from its base.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1138-1142
quote_or_summary: Knowing the youth is stronger, the master uses the strange withheld
feat, seizes him, lifts him above his head, and throws him down.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1142-1146
quote_or_summary: The crowd shouts; the king orders an honorary dress and largess
for the master and reproaches the youth as treacherous toward his patron.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 1146-1150
quote_or_summary: The youth says the master did not overcome him by strength but
by one cunning wrestling trick that had been withheld.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:10
type: quote
locator: 1150-1152
quote_or_summary: "“Put it not so much into a friend's power that, if hostilely
disposed, he can do you an injury.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 1152-1153
quote_or_summary: A cited man who was betrayed by his pupil says no one learned
archery from him without eventually making him the target.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is a self-contained didactic anecdote with clear actions, figures,
and moral. No external comparison claims are made because the passage itself does
not support them.
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 provided passage and metadata were used; available taxonomy references were applied only where directly supportable.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l1113-l1153
passage_sha256=200e2b4c176ab58e634716ee60820752d84aad13912ec5511a5945e3a088ad61