batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l4646-l4667
---
record_id: batch.motif.persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg-l4646-l4667
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
passage_locator:
label: LXXXV / LXXXVI / LXXXIX / XCIII; lines 4646-4667
start: '4646'
end: '4667'
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 gives rules of good breeding and prudent speech: a speaker
should accommodate himself to the host and to the hearer, illustrated by speaking
of Laila in Mujnun''s company; and one who interrupts others to display knowledge
exposes ignorance, while a prudent person waits until a question is fully stated
before answering.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Good breeding is described as foregoing an engagement or accommodating oneself
to the master of an entertainment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker is advised to adapt a story to the hearer's temper when reciprocal
inclination is known.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: A discreet person in Mujnun's company would speak only with praise of Laila.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Interrupting others' conversation in order to display knowledge is said to
reveal ignorance.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Philosophers are cited as saying that a prudent man does not give an answer
until the question is formally stated.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Even a proposition with a proper demonstration may be misconstrued by a fastidious
caviller.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: person instructed in good breeding
description: A general addressee told to accommodate conduct and speech to the occasion
and hearer.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: master of the entertainment
description: The host or master to whom the person is told to accommodate himself.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: hearer
description: The person whose temper should guide the speaker's story.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: discreet man
description: A discreet person who, in Mujnun's company, would speak only in praise
of Laila.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Mujnun
description: A named figure whose company calls for encomiums on Laila.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Laila
description: A named figure praised in Mujnun's company.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: interrupter of conversation
description: A person who interrupts others to display his fund of knowledge.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: philosophers
description: Authorities quoted for the maxim about prudent speech.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: prudent man
description: A person who waits until a question is formally stated before answering.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: fastidious caviller
description: A critic who may construe a demonstrable proposition wrongly.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: courteous adapter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The addressee is instructed to accommodate himself to the master and to the
hearer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: host or master of occasion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage names the master of the entertainment as the person to whom one
should accommodate oneself.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: audience whose disposition shapes speech
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The story should be accommodated to the hearer's temper.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: discreet conversationalist
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: A discreet man is said to choose praise of Laila when with Mujnun.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: listener associated with Laila
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage treats Mujnun's company as a setting where Laila should be praised.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: praised beloved figure
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage refers to encomiums on Laila in Mujnun's company.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:7
label: ignorant self-displayer
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The interrupter attempts to display knowledge but reveals ignorance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:8
label: gnomic authorities
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Philosophers are cited as the source of the saying about prudent answers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:9
label: restrained respondent
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The prudent man waits until the question is properly stated before answering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:10
label: misconstruing critic
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The fastidious are said to construe even a demonstrated proposition wrongly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Accommodation to host and hearer
summary: A rule of good breeding instructs a person to yield or adapt to the master
of the entertainment and to adjust speech to the hearer; the example given is
praising Laila when in Mujnun's company.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Prudent speech versus interrupting display
summary: A maxim condemns interrupting others to display knowledge, cites philosophers
on waiting for a fully stated question, and warns that fastidious critics can
misconstrue even sound demonstrations.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: courteous adaptation of speech to audience
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage explicitly advises accommodating conduct to the host and adapting
one's story to the hearer's temper.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is a didactic etiquette motif rather than a narrative mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: beloved-centered conversation around the lover
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says that a discreet man in Mujnun's company would speak only
in praise of Laila.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage only alludes to Mujnun and Laila; it does not narrate their
story.
- id: motif:3
label: restraint before answering
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The philosophers' saying presents prudent speech as waiting until the question
is fully stated before answering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is expressed as a maxim, not as a developed scene.
- id: motif:4
label: showy interruption reveals ignorance
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage says that interrupting others to display knowledge makes one's
ignorance notorious.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical speech maxim rather than a mythic plot motif.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The allusion to Mujnun and Laila supports a cautious comparison with the
Layla-Majnun literary pattern in which the lover's social world is oriented toward
the beloved.
claim_level: same_function
target: Mujnun/Laila love-story tradition
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage uses the names only as an illustrative allusion and provides
no independent narrative details of the wider tradition.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 4646-4655; section XCIII
quote_or_summary: '"If thou knowest that the inclination is reciprocal, accommodate
thy story to the temper of the hearer"; a discreet man in Mujnun''s company would
speak only with encomiums on Laila.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata supplied; short quotation used for evidence.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 4659-4667; section XCVI
quote_or_summary: '"Whoever interrupts the conversation of others" to display knowledge
reveals ignorance; philosophers say a prudent man waits until the question is
formally stated.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/persian/project-gutenberg/gulistan-sadi-ross.md
rights_note: Public domain source metadata supplied; short quotation used for evidence.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Extraction relies only on the supplied passage. Comparison is limited to
the passage's explicit allusion to Mujnun and Laila.
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 available symbol taxonomy items are literally present in the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:persian-sadi-gulistan-ross-gutenberg__l4646-l4667
passage_sha256=d3995a4a05fe86570e9627589ae2be22c9a2e1b65c4fd18c49e366a8201ec7c6