batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2971-l3063
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l2971-l3063
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: XVIII / XXVII / CHAPTER IV / CHAPTER V; lines 2971-3063
start: '2971'
end: '3063'
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: 'The passage presents several short moral anecdotes and verses: a speaker
rejects a once-beautiful returnee whose youth has faded; a parrot and a crow confined
in one cage mutually despise each other; the narrator explains this as a parable
about reciprocal contempt between learned and ignorant people and gives a related
example involving a holy man and minstrels; finally, an estranged travel companion
praises the narrator''s poetry, regrets the broken friendship, and peace is renewed
through exchanged verses.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A person who had formerly been admired returns after an interval, now described
as aged in appearance and bearded.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker refuses the expected embrace and addresses the returnee with verses
about lost youth, cooled affection, and the end of the season of youth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The returnee says his face may have put on black to mourn departed charms.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A parrot and a crow are shut in the same cage.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The parrot is offended by the crow's appearance and wishes they were far apart.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The crow is also distressed by the parrot's company and calls the shared confinement
a calamity.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The narrator states that the parable shows that ignorant people may scorn
learned people even more than learned people despise the ignorant.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: A holy man is placed in company with wandering minstrels, and one minstrel
mocks him as unpleasant within their gathering.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The narrator had a travel companion with whom he shared bread, salt, and a
long friendship before a small advantage caused estrangement.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The estranged companion publicly recites the narrator's couplets, praises
them, regrets the former attachment's demise, and admits blame.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The narrator sends couplets invoking a broken compact and offering renewed
peace if the companion returns.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Narrator or Sa'di
description: The speaking figure who rejects the returnee, explains the parable,
and later reconciles with an estranged companion.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Returning once-handsome person
description: A person formerly praised for beauty who returns after an interval
with a beard and diminished charms.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Parrot
description: A parrot confined with a crow who objects to the crow's appearance
and company.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Crow
description: A crow confined with a parrot who is equally distressed by the parrot's
company.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Learned men
description: A group named in the narrator's explanation of the parable as despising
the ignorant.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Ignorant people
description: A group named in the narrator's explanation as being even more scornful
of the learned.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Holy man or zahid
description: A holy man who falls into company with wandering minstrels.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Wandering minstrels and charmer of Balkh
description: Minstrels, including one from Balkh, who are in company with the holy
man and mock him.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Estranged travel companion
description: A former companion of the narrator's travels and friendship who later
praises the narrator's verses and regrets the estrangement.
role_refs:
- role:8
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Assembly of the companion's friends
description: A group that hears the companion recite the narrator's couplets and
applauds his disposition in quoting them.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: speaker of admonition
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The narrator addresses the returning person with admonitory verses about
lost youth and cooled affection.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: moral interpreter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The narrator explicitly states the lesson of the parable of the parrot and
crow.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: agent of reconciliation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The narrator sends verses that make peace with the estranged companion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: aged former beloved or beauty
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The person returns after former beauty has waned and is described through
images of beard and departed charms.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: mutually unwilling cage companion
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: Both the parrot and the crow are confined together and each complains about
the other.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: opposed social-intellectual category
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: The narrator uses learned and ignorant groups to state the parable's lesson
about reciprocal contempt.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: mismatched company participant
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: The holy man and minstrels are placed together as another example of displeasing
company.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: estranged friend
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The companion had shared travels and friendship with the narrator before
intimacy ceased.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: repentant admirer
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The companion praises the narrator's verses, regrets the former attachment's
demise, and admits blame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: witnessing audience
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The society of friends hears the recitation and applauds the companion's
disposition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: beard and facial hair
literal_form: Down, bristles, and beard on the returnee's face
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: cooled fire
literal_form: A cooled fire in the speaker's grate
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: cage
literal_form: The shared cage containing the parrot and crow
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: parrot and crow pair
literal_form: A parrot and a crow confined together
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: bread and salt
literal_form: Bread and salt shared by the narrator and his companion
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: treaty or compact
literal_form: A treaty of good faith and compact invoked in the reconciliation verses
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Return after beauty has faded
summary: A once-admired person returns expecting affection, but the speaker refuses
and speaks of the loss of youth and charm.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Parrot and crow in one cage
summary: A parrot and a crow are confined together; each despises the other's company
and complains about the forced association.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Narrator explains the parable
summary: The narrator states the moral of the animal parable and adds an example
in which a holy man and minstrels are mutually ill-suited company.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Estranged companion and renewed peace
summary: A former travel companion who had become estranged praises the narrator's
verses and expresses regret; the narrator responds with couplets that renew peace.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Fading youth and rejected return
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The returnee's former beauty is described as waning, and the speaker refuses
renewed intimacy because youth has passed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage treats the theme through satirical love imagery rather than
a full narrative cycle.
- id: motif:2
label: Mutual aversion of forced companions
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The parrot and crow are confined together and each condemns the other, forming
an explicit moral parable.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy link is to the passage's didactic wisdom function, not to
a specific indexed animal-tale number.
- id: motif:3
label: Reciprocal contempt between learned and ignorant
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The narrator explicitly says the parable shows that ignorant people are even
more scornful of learned people than learned people are of the ignorant.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is an explicit moral statement rather than an implied symbolic interpretation.
- id: motif:4
label: Broken friendship restored by confession and verse
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A long friendship breaks over a trifling advantage, but regret, praise, and
exchanged couplets lead to renewed peace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a social-moral anecdote; no sacred or mythic covenant
is asserted.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 2971-3000
quote_or_summary: A formerly handsome person returns after an interval; the speaker
says the person's charms have faded, beard has appeared, and the season of youth
must end, refusing the expected embrace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 3001-3004
quote_or_summary: '"I know not what has befallen my face, unless it has put on black
to mourn its departed charms."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3008-3018
quote_or_summary: A parrot is shut in the same cage with a crow and complains about
the crow's ugly appearance, wishing they were as far apart as east and west.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3019-3033
quote_or_summary: The crow is also vexed by the parrot's company, laments his fate,
and calls the companionship a chain and dungeon of calamity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3034-3044
quote_or_summary: The narrator says the parable shows that ignorant people scorn
learned people even more than learned people despise the ignorant; he adds an
example of a holy man among wandering minstrels, one of whom mocks him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 3046-3051
quote_or_summary: The narrator describes an associate who was his travel companion
for years, shared bread and salt, and enjoyed the rights of friendship before
a trifling advantage caused estrangement.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 3051-3058
quote_or_summary: The narrator hears that the estranged companion recited two of
his couplets in an assembly, praised them, regretted the former attachment's end,
admitted blame, and wished reconciliation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 3058-3063
quote_or_summary: The narrator sends couplets asking whether there was not a treaty
of good faith, accusing the companion of violating the compact, and inviting him
to return in renewed peace.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summary supplied.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is explicit about several moral themes, especially the animal
parable. Motif taxonomy links are limited to broad wisdom functions; no external
comparative claims are made by the passage.
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 comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself support a specific comparison beyond its explicit didactic parable function.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l2971-l3063
passage_sha256=7662ebb9b60c7b763561c4f177455fdcbced49477af879adb689dde793a9b6fa