batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2715-l2767
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2715-l2767
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER III / XVIII / XXVII / CHAPTER IV; lines 2715-2767
start: '2715'
end: '2767'
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: Three brief anecdotes criticize religious speakers with harsh or discordant
voices. In the first, a harsh-voiced preacher learns of his fault through a rival's
taunting dream-report and vows to speak softly. In the second, a mosque intendant
pays a discordant caller to prayers to leave, and jokes that others may pay even
more to remove him. In the third, a holy man tells a loud harsh reciter of the
Koran that, if he reads in such a manner for God's sake, he should stop for God's
sake.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A harsh-voiced preacher considers himself eloquent and preaches at a mosque
ineffectively.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The preacher's townsmen tolerate his defect out of respect for his rank and
do not tell him about it.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Another preacher, motivated by private spite, reports a dream in which the
harsh preacher's voice became harmonious and pleased people.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The harsh preacher recognizes his unpleasant voice and vows to preach softly
thereafter.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:5
text: The narrator says flattering friends treat vices as virtues and blemishes
as perfections, and asks for a bold rival who will expose deformities.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: At a mosque in Sanjar, a volunteer caller to prayers chants so discordantly
that hearers go away in disgust.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The mosque intendant offers the discordant caller ten dinars to go elsewhere,
more than the five dinars paid monthly to established criers.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The caller later reports that another place offered him twenty dinars to leave,
and the nobleman warns that they may offer fifty.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: A harsh-voiced person recites the Koran loudly without stipend, saying he
reads for God's sake.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: A good and holy man tells the reciter not to read for God's sake if his chanting
casts a shade over Islam.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: harsh-voiced preacher
description: A preacher with a harsh voice who thinks himself fine-spoken and preaches
at a mosque.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: townsmen
description: People who tolerate the preacher's defect out of reverence for his
rank.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: rival preacher
description: Another preacher who, from private pique, reports a dream that indirectly
exposes the harsh preacher's fault.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: narrating speaker
description: The speaker who complains that flattering friends praise faults and
asks for a bold rival to expose defects.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: discordant caller to prayers
description: A volunteer at the mosque in Sanjar whose call to prayers drives hearers
away in disgust.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: mosque intendant or nobleman
description: A just and well-disposed gentleman who pays the discordant caller to
leave rather than directly offend him.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: harsh-voiced Koran reciter
description: A person reciting the Koran loudly and harshly without payment, claiming
to read for God's sake.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: good and holy man
description: A pious man who questions the harsh reciter and advises him not to
recite in that manner.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: self-unaware harsh sacred speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:7
basis: Each figure performs religious speech or chanting in a harsh or discordant
manner that distresses others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: deferential community
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The townsmen refrain from criticizing the preacher because of reverence for
his rank.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: corrective admonisher
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:8
basis: The rival preacher and the holy man each cause a harsh religious speaker
to confront the fault in his performance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: moralizing commentator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The speaker draws an explicit lesson about harmful flattery and useful criticism.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: tactful remover of nuisance
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The intendant avoids direct offense by paying the discordant caller to leave
and later jokes about higher payments offered elsewhere.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: harsh or discordant voice
literal_form: Harsh tone, braying, discordant call, loud harsh recitation.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: mosque setting
literal_form: Mosque where preaching, the call to prayers, or religious recitation
occurs.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: dream report
literal_form: A reported dream in which the preacher's voice has become harmonious.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: stipend payment
literal_form: Five, ten, twenty, and fifty dinars mentioned in connection with mosque
service and leaving a post.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: Koran recitation
literal_form: Loud recitation of the Koran by a harsh-voiced person.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Rival's dream exposes a preacher's harsh voice
summary: A harsh-voiced preacher is spared criticism by respectful townsmen, but
a rival's taunting dream-report makes him recognize his fault and vow to preach
softly.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Reflection on flattery and criticism
summary: The narrating speaker contrasts flattering friends who treat faults as
virtues with a bold rival who exposes defects.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Payment to make the discordant caller leave
summary: A mosque intendant pays a discordant volunteer caller to prayers to go
elsewhere, and later warns him not to accept a higher offer because still higher
ones may follow.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Holy man rebukes harsh Koran recitation
summary: A holy man questions a loud harsh reciter, hears that he reads for God's
sake, and tells him not to read in that manner for God's sake.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Beneficial rebuke exposes a hidden fault
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The first anecdote and the narrator's comment present criticism from a rival
as more useful than friends' flattery because it reveals a real defect.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames this as moral wisdom rather than as a mythic transformation
or supernatural dream event.
- id: motif:2
label: Religious performance harmed by unfit voice
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: All three anecdotes depict sacred speech or mosque service becoming offensive
because of harsh or discordant vocal delivery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is a recurrent didactic comic pattern within the passage; it is not
tied to a specific provided mythological motif family beyond wisdom.
- id: motif:3
label: Tactful bribery to remove a nuisance
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The intendant avoids direct offense by offering money to make the discordant
caller leave, and the later escalation of offers provides the joke and lesson.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This motif is limited to one anecdote in the passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2715-2740
quote_or_summary: A harsh-voiced preacher at a mosque thinks himself eloquent; townsmen
conceal his defect out of respect; a rival reports a dream of his voice becoming
harmonious; the preacher recognizes his unpleasant voice and vows to speak softly.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 2741-2744
quote_or_summary: The speaker complains that friends praise vices as virtues and
asks for a rude, bold rival who will expose deformities.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 2745-2760
quote_or_summary: At a mosque in Sanjar, a volunteer caller to prayers chants so
discordantly that hearers leave; the intendant pays him ten dinars to go elsewhere;
the caller later says others offered twenty for him to leave; the nobleman jokes
that they may offer fifty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 2761-2767
quote_or_summary: A harsh-voiced person loudly recites the Koran without stipend,
saying he reads for God's sake; a good and holy man replies that for God's sake
he should not read in that manner.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif labels are conservative and
didactic; no external comparison claims are made because the passage itself does
not support historical or cross-traditional 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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. No available symbol taxonomy IDs were applicable.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l2715-l2767
passage_sha256=c6237546bcf3ca6f946e9d74e3ee34e2ed14fb6306568200b9b9683f46ad8e05