batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l7675-l7775
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l7675-l7775
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
passage_locator:
label: OF QONYA. / PREFACE. / IN THE NAME OF GOD, / THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE.;
lines 7675-7775
start: '7675'
end: '7775'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The beasts make a treaty with the lion to supply him a daily victim by
lot. When the lot falls on the hare, he asks for time to devise a stratagem that
will save the others. The beasts mock his smallness, but the hare replies that
God can work great effects through small creatures and divine wisdom. The passage
expands into examples of divine teaching, inner truth beyond outward form, Solomon’s
rule by wisdom, hidden dangers, and the need for patience and saintly guidance.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The beasts agree to provide the forest king with a daily victim selected by
lot so that he will not trespass on their ground.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The lot eventually falls on the hare, and the other beasts urge him not to
break the agreement.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The hare asks for a respite and says he will use a stratagem to cheat the
tyrant and save the living beasts.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The beasts insult the hare as small and presumptuous.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The hare answers that his inspiration is from God and that small means can
produce great effects.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The passage cites the honey-bee and silkworm as small creatures taught by
God to make honeycomb and silk thread.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says Adam was taught all names by God, surpassing the angels,
while the fiend refused to acknowledge this.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The passage contrasts outward human form with life and soul, using a wall
painting as an example of form without living essence.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says the dog of the Seven Sleepers was honored by God despite
being called a dog.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The narrator turns back to the hare and names his plan a subtle stratagem
that foiled the lion.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: The passage states that Solomon ruled by wisdom and that wisdom is the soul
of the world’s frame.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: A bathing person in a river may be pierced by a hidden thorn at the bottom
of the stream.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:13
text: The passage counsels patience until experience reveals truth and darkness
becomes plain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: forest king / lion
description: Predatory ruler who receives a daily prey-victim under the treaty and
is later said to be foiled by the hare’s stratagem.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: hare
description: Small animal on whom the lot falls; he asks for delay and proposes
a stratagem to save the beasts.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:10
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: other beasts
description: Collective animals who made the treaty, had taken their turns, and
rebuke the hare for delaying.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: God
description: Divine source of inspiration, wisdom, created forms, and honor bestowed
beyond outward rank.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: honey-bee
description: Small creature whose ordered cells and sweetness are presented as wisdom
taught by God.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: silkworm
description: Creature taught by God to spin fine threads.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Adam
description: Earthy human figure taught all names by God, whose knowledge amazed
the heavens.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: angelic choir
description: Angels silenced by Adam’s divinely taught knowledge.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: fiend
description: Figure cursed for not acknowledging Adam’s knowledge.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: dog of the Seven Sleepers
description: Dog honored by God so that earthly lions bow before it.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Solomon
description: Ruler whose dominion is associated with the seal of wisdom.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: bathing person
description: Person entering a river who is hurt by an unseen thorn hidden in the
stream.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
roles:
- id: role:1
label: tyrannical predator ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The lion is called forest king, receives prey by treaty, and is called a
grim tyrant by the hare.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: small chosen victim
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The lot falls on the hare, and he is expected to go to the lion as prey.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: clever deliverer through stratagem
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The hare says he will plan a stratagem to cheat the tyrant and save all,
and the narrator later calls it a subtle stratagem that foiled the lion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:10
- id: role:4
label: fearful covenant community
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The beasts uphold the daily-victim agreement and rebuke the hare for risking
breach of faith.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: divine source of wisdom and rank
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: God is said to inspire the hare, teach small creatures, teach Adam, create
forms, and honor the Seven Sleepers’ dog.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: role:6
label: small divinely taught maker
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
basis: The bee and silkworm are examples of small creatures taught by God to produce
honeycomb and silk.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: recipient of divinely taught knowledge
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Adam is said to have been taught all names by God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: surpassed heavenly beings
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The angelic choir are silenced by Adam’s knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:9
label: refuser of divine recognition
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The fiend is cursed because he did not confess the fact of Adam’s knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: lowly creature honored by God
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The dog is said to be given a place in heaven despite its animal status.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:11
label: wisdom-king
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Solomon’s rule is attributed to wisdom’s seal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:12
label: person exposed to hidden danger
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The bathing person cannot see the thorn hidden at the river bottom but feels
its wound.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: daily lot
literal_form: Lots cast among the beasts to choose the lion’s daily prey.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: hare’s stratagem
literal_form: A wily plan by which the hare intends to cheat the lion and save the
beasts.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:10
- id: sym:3
label: honeycomb and sweetness
literal_form: Bee cells arranged and filled with liquid sweetness.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: silk thread
literal_form: Fine threads spun by the silkworm.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: milk of religion / milk of truth
literal_form: Milk denied by a muzzle in the figurative discussion of religious
teaching and truth.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: sym:6
label: precious pearl in the heart
literal_form: A pearl planted by God in the human heart, surpassing seas and skies.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: sym:7
label: painting on a wall
literal_form: A painted human or royal figure lacking life and soul.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: Solomon’s seal of wisdom
literal_form: The seal by which Solomon ruled.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: sym:9
label: river and hidden thorn
literal_form: A river or stream containing an unseen thorn that pierces the bather’s
foot.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Treaty with the lion
summary: The beasts arrange a treaty by which the lion receives a daily prey-victim
chosen by lot instead of raiding their ground.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Hare selected and rebuked
summary: The lot falls on the hare, who laments; the other beasts demand that he
uphold the agreement.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Hare proposes deliverance by stratagem
summary: The hare asks for a delay and claims he can devise a plan to cheat the
tyrant and save the living beasts and their descendants.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Small means and divine wisdom
summary: The hare answers mockery by saying inspiration is from God and citing the
bee, silkworm, Adam, angels, fiend, and divine honor of the Seven Sleepers’ dog.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:14
- ev:15
- id: scene:5
label: Return to the hare’s wile
summary: The narrator breaks off the theological theme and returns attention to
the hare’s foxy stratagem that foiled the lion.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: scene:6
label: Wisdom and hidden dangers
summary: Wisdom is described as Solomon’s seal and the soul of the world, followed
by a warning that hidden enemies and unseen dangers trouble human life, requiring
patience and guidance.
figure_refs:
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: small weak animal defeats tyrannical predator by cunning
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The hare, mocked as small, asks for time to devise a stratagem to cheat the
lion, and the narrator identifies the plan as the subtle stratagem that foiled
the lion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The passage excerpt announces and interprets the stratagem but does not
narrate its full execution here.
- id: motif:2
label: wisdom superior to outward strength and form
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage contrasts the small hare, bee, and silkworm with greater beasts,
contrasts living soul with painted form, and says Solomon ruled by wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The passage develops this as didactic reflection rather than a single
narrative episode.
- id: motif:3
label: divine elevation of the lowly or despised creature
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Small creatures receive divine teaching, the hare claims divine inspiration,
and the dog of the Seven Sleepers is honored by God despite being called a dog.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has no exact lowly-creature-elevated motif, so
wisdom is only an approximate family reference.
- id: motif:4
label: hidden danger beneath apparent surface
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The river image describes an unseen thorn hidden at the bottom of the stream
that wounds the bather, followed by counsel to endure troubles until truth becomes
plain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
confidence: medium
cautions: This is an illustrative moral image rather than the central animal fable.
- id: motif:5
label: salvation from doom promised by a guide
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
basis: The hare promises to save all living beasts, and the narrator compares this
to prophets promising their communities salvation from doom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The comparison is explicit, but it is embedded in a rhetorical analogy
and not a full salvation narrative in this excerpt.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly likens the hare’s promised rescue of the beasts from
the lion to prophetic promises of salvation from doom.
claim_level: same_function
target: prophetic salvation-from-doom pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The analogy is made within the passage’s didactic commentary; it does
not establish historical relationship or full narrative equivalence.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage aligns the hare’s small but effective agency with other examples
of small or outwardly low beings empowered by divine wisdom, including the bee,
silkworm, and Seven Sleepers’ dog.
claim_level: same_function
target: divinely empowered lowly creature pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is an intra-passage thematic comparison, not a claim of shared
origin across traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 7675-7680; internal verse no. 100
quote_or_summary: 'The beasts conclude a treaty with the forest king: a daily ration
will be ready for him, chosen by lots, so he need not trespass.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 7681-7686; internal verse no. 105
quote_or_summary: The lot falls on the hare; he laments, and the other beasts tell
him they have each accepted their turn and that the lion must not be forgotten.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 7687-7696; internal verse no. 110
quote_or_summary: "“A stratagem I’ll plan, and cheat this grim tyrant. / My wily
plan shall save the souls of all alive”; the passage compares this to prophets
promising salvation from doom."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 7697-7702
quote_or_summary: The beasts call the hare a jackass, emphasize that he is only
a hare, and accuse him of overweening pretension.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 7703-7705; internal verse no. 115
quote_or_summary: "“My inspiration’s God’s; small means effect great ends.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 7705-7710
quote_or_summary: The hare cites the honey-bee’s arranged cells filled with sweetness
and the silkworm’s God-taught spinning as examples of divine wisdom in small creatures.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 7711-7716; internal verse no. 120
quote_or_summary: Adam is taught all names by God; the angelic choir are silenced,
and the fiend refuses to confess the fact.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 7723-7728; internal verse no. 125
quote_or_summary: A wall painting can show human or royal form, but it lacks life
and soul.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 7729-7732
quote_or_summary: The heads of earthly lions bow when God applauds the dog of the
Seven Sleepers; calling it a dog cannot harm it because God has given it a heavenly
place.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: quote
locator: lines 7737-7742; internal verse no. 135
quote_or_summary: "“Examine well the hare’s most foxy wile,— / The subtle stratagem
that did the lion foil.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 7743-7752; internal verse no. 140
quote_or_summary: Wisdom is called the seal by which Solomon ruled and the soul
of the world’s frame; animals, sea creatures, demons, and fairies fear or withdraw
before humans.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 7757-7762
quote_or_summary: A person enters a river to bathe; an unseen thorn at the bottom
of the stream pierces the foot.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 7763-7775; internal verse no. 145
quote_or_summary: Troubles come from many sides; patience brings experience, truth
is recognized, darkness becomes plain, and saints become patterns.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 7717-7720
quote_or_summary: The passage describes a muzzle preventing a new-born babe from
sucking the milk of religion’s teachings and receiving the milk of sublime truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: lines 7721-7722
quote_or_summary: God is said to have planted a precious pearl in the human heart,
a gem not enclosed by seas or skies.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The animal-fable elements and wisdom imagery are explicit. Some motif-family
assignments are approximate because the supplied taxonomy lacks exact labels for
lowly-creature elevation and hidden danger imagery.
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: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. Taxonomy references are limited to supplied motif families and symbols.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l7675-l7775
passage_sha256=94d2dc72014d89d3e853b066a1bf53c90c4b75ec70f88df7d4d77e9180150f8b