batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2389-l2497
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2389-l2497
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: XXXIX / XLVIII / CHAPTER III / XVIII; lines 2389-2497
start: '2389'
end: '2497'
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 sequence of didactic anecdotes contrasts bodily need with wealth, gratitude
with complaint, royal condescension with courtly pride, forced extraction from
a wealthy mendicant, and a merchant's endless plans with the lesson that only
contentment or death can fill a greedy eye.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: An Arab in the desert suffers extreme thirst and wishes for a stream of water
to reach his knees so he can fill his flask or stomach.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A bewildered traveller in the great desert has no provisions or strength left,
though a few dirams remain with him, and dies after failing to find the path.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Travellers find the dead man's body with dirams spread before him and verses
written in the sand stating that food is worth more than gold or silver to a starving
desert wanderer.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The narrator complains once about having bare feet and no means to buy shoes,
then sees a man with no feet in the mosque at Cufah and gives thanks for his own
condition.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: A king on a winter hunting excursion seeks night shelter at a peasant's cottage,
while a courtier objects that such refuge would not suit royal dignity.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The peasant brings refreshments to the king, kisses the earth in subserviency,
and says the king's dignity would not be lowered, while the peasant's condition
would be exalted.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The king spends the night at the cottage and in the morning gives the peasant
an honorary dress and a large gift.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: A rich mendicant is asked by a king for a loan for public business and refuses,
saying his scraped-together property is unfit for the sovereign's enterprise.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: After the mendicant disobeys and resists the royal command, the king orders
exchequer measures to be enforced with severity.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: A merchant with many camels, servants, and goods speaks all night about holdings,
trade routes, and a final series of journeys he wants to make before retiring.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: Sa'di answers the merchant with a report of a merchant in the desert of Ghor
who said that either contentment or grave dust will fill the stingy eye of the
worldly-minded.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: thirsting Arab
description: An Arab suffering extreme thirst in the desert.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: bewildered traveller
description: A traveller lost in the great desert, without provisions or strength,
but with a few dirams.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: party of travellers
description: Travellers who arrive where the dead traveller's body lies and see
the dirams and verses.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Sa'di / narrator
description: The first-person speaker who reports the anecdotes and gives replies
or reflections.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: man with no feet
description: A man in the metropolitan mosque at Cufah who has no feet.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: king on hunting excursion
description: A king travelling with a select retinue during a winter sporting excursion.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: courtier
description: A courtier who says it would not become the sovereign's dignity to
take refuge in a low peasant's cottage.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: peasant host
description: A peasant who offers refreshments, receives the king, and is rewarded.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: rich mendicant
description: An importunate mendicant who has amassed much wealth and refuses the
king's requested loan.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: merchant at Keish
description: A merchant with one hundred and fifty burden camels and forty bondsmen
and servants, occupied with trade plans.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: chief merchant in the desert of Ghor
description: A merchant whose body falls exhausted from his camel in the desert
of Ghor and who utters a saying about contentment and the grave.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: desert sufferer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: Both figures are in the desert under bodily extremity, thirst, hunger, fatigue,
or loss.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: didactic narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The speaker reports personal experience and offers a moral reply to the merchant.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:9
- id: role:3
label: contrastive afflicted figure
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The man's absence of feet causes the barefoot narrator to give thanks for
his own condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: ruler and guest
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The king seeks shelter, accepts hospitality, and later gives the peasant
gifts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: guardian of royal status
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The courtier objects that staying in a peasant's cottage would not suit sovereign
dignity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: discovering witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The travellers find the corpse, dirams, and written verses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: humble host rewarded by king
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The peasant brings refreshments, hosts the king, and receives an honorary
dress and largess.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: wealth-possessor lacking contentment
assigned_to:
- fig:9
- fig:10
basis: The mendicant possesses much wealth but resists lending; the merchant possesses
extensive goods and continues planning more trade.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: exhausted merchant exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The merchant in Ghor falls exhausted from his camel and delivers a saying
about worldly-minded greed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: water desired in desert
literal_form: stream of water, leathern flask, stomach
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: coins useless against hunger
literal_form: dirams, gold of Jafier, ingot of virgin silver
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: simple food valued by the hungry
literal_form: boiled turnip
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: bare feet and missing feet
literal_form: bare feet, no feet, want of shoes
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: peasant cottage as shelter
literal_form: peasant's cottage
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: fire proposed for encampment
literal_form: kindle a fire
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: royal gift
literal_form: honorary dress and handsome largess
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:8
label: grave dust and stingy eye
literal_form: dust of the grave; stingy eye of the worldly-minded
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Thirsting Arab in the desert
summary: An Arab near death from thirst wishes for enough water to fill his flask
or stomach.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Lost traveller found dead with money
summary: A traveller lost without food dies despite retaining coins; later travellers
find his body, the coins, and verses about food being worth more than precious
metal to the starving.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Barefoot narrator sees a footless man
summary: The narrator, distressed by lack of shoes, sees a man with no feet in the
mosque at Cufah and becomes thankful and patient.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: King sheltered by peasant
summary: A king on a winter hunt considers sheltering at a peasant's cottage; a
courtier objects, but the peasant offers refreshments and frames the king's visit
as an elevation of the humble rather than a lowering of the king.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Peasant rewarded after hospitality
summary: The king stays at the cottage and rewards the peasant with an honorary
dress and largess; the peasant praises the effect of the king's shadow on his
status.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Rich mendicant compelled by king
summary: A wealthy mendicant refuses the king's request for a loan, disputes the
command, and is subjected to strict enforcement by the royal exchequer.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:7
label: Restless merchant and lesson of contentment
summary: A wealthy merchant recounts many trade ambitions; Sa'di replies with a
desert exemplum saying that contentment or the grave alone fills the eye of the
worldly-minded.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Bodily need outweighs stored wealth
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The desert traveller dies with dirams before him, and the verses state that
food is preferable to gold or silver for a starving person.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a didactic wisdom motif rather than a mythic narrative motif.
- id: motif:2
label: Gratitude learned through comparison with greater affliction
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The barefoot narrator stops complaining after seeing a man with no feet and
gives thanks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No supernatural transformation occurs; the motif is ethical instruction
through contrast.
- id: motif:3
label: Royal humility elevates the humble host
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- royal_legitimacy
basis: The king accepts a peasant's hospitality without losing dignity and rewards
him; the peasant describes the king's presence as raising his own status.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a courtly moral about status and generosity, not
a formal sacral kingship myth.
- id: motif:4
label: Miserly wealth compelled when voluntary generosity fails
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A wealthy mendicant refuses the king's requested loan and is then subjected
to forceful exchequer enforcement.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage supports an ethical-political lesson, but it does not frame
the act as sacred judgment.
- id: motif:5
label: Endless acquisition answered by contentment or death
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The merchant's expanding trade plans are countered by the saying that only
contentment or grave dust fills the worldly-minded eye.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is expressed as moral aphorism and exemplum rather than as a
developed mythic episode.
- id: motif:6
label: Water as the immediate object of life-saving desire
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The thirsting Arab imagines a stream of water and filling his flask or stomach
before death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a simple symbolic image of need; the passage does not develop
water into a larger cosmological symbol.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2389-2395; XVIII
quote_or_summary: An Arab in the desert suffers extreme thirst and wishes before
death for a stream of water reaching his knees, enough to fill his leathern flask
or stomach.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 2396-2407; XVIII
quote_or_summary: A lost traveller in the great desert has no provisions or strength,
only a few dirams; travellers later find his body, the dirams, and verses saying
that food would be better than gold or virgin silver for a parched mendicant.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 2409-2419; XIX
quote_or_summary: The narrator complains of bare feet and no shoes, enters the mosque
at Cufah, sees a man with no feet, gives thanks to God, and accepts his want of
shoes with patience.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 2421-2436; XX
quote_or_summary: A king on a winter hunting excursion seeks shelter at a peasant's
cottage; a courtier proposes a tent and fire instead, but the peasant brings refreshments
and says the king's dignity is not lowered by condescension.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 2436-2447; XX
quote_or_summary: The king is pleased, spends the night at the cottage, and in the
morning gives the peasant an honorary dress and handsome largess; the peasant
says the king's shadow has raised his cap to the level of the sun.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 2449-2464; XXI
quote_or_summary: A king asks a wealthy mendicant for a loan; the mendicant refuses,
calling his scraped-together property unsuitable for the sovereign's lofty enterprise,
and the king answers with analogies of impurity suited to impure uses.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 2464-2472; XXI
quote_or_summary: The mendicant disobeys and resists the royal command; the king
orders rigid and violent exchequer enforcement, with the maxim that force is used
when fair words fail.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 2474-2492; XXII
quote_or_summary: A merchant at Keish, owning many camels and servants, talks all
night about goods, debts, and planned trade journeys from Persia to China, Greece,
India, Aleppo, Yamin, and back to Persia before retirement.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: quote
locator: lines 2492-2497; XXII
quote_or_summary: 'Sa''di replies with a report from the desert of Ghor: “Either
contentment or the dust of the grave will fill the stingy eye of the worldly-minded.”'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from public domain text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The anecdotes and their ethical lessons are explicit. Motif tagging is limited
to available broad taxonomy, mainly wisdom; no passage-supported cross-cultural
comparison is made.
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. Comparison claims are omitted because the passage itself does not establish a comparison to another corpus or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l2389-l2497
passage_sha256=5cb88eb7a87a863631c64cb2eb2a730c5e5cd279fa68aa69081ee3bdf667aa4a