batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8097-l8210
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8097-l8210
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 8097-8210
start: '8097'
end: '8210'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A hare reports to a lion that another lion has challenged his kingship
and kept the hare's companion as a pledge. The lion orders the hare to guide him
to the supposed rival. The hare leads the lion toward a well intended as the lion's
death-scene. The narrator adds reflections on weak agents overcoming the strong,
treacherous counsel, divine trial, prayer, and mistaken perception. A separate
exemplum describes Solomon receiving homage from birds who speak his language;
the hoopoe claims the ability to detect hidden underground water and is appointed
to accompany armies in deserts so water will not be lacking.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The hare tells the lion that another beast claims kingship and calls the lion
a usurper.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The hare says the alleged beast kept the hare's companion as a pledge and
sent the hare back to report.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The lion commands the hare to go before him and guide him to the beast.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The hare leads the lion toward a nearby well that the hare has chosen as the
lion's death-scene.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage states that water may carry away chaff and invokes Moses drowning
Pharaoh's band at the Red Sea.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The passage states that a gnat, by God's behest, may destroy Nimrod.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage warns that a foe speaking in a friendly manner may display bait
while laying a trap.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The passage includes a prayer asking God not to crush a trusting servant under
trial and not to make pleasant waters burn like fire.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The passage defines madness as a bandage over the eye of faith and as false
judgment of things.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Solomon camps in the field, and birds gather around him to render homage.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The birds recognize that Solomon speaks their language and knows their secrets.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The birds present their knowledge, voices, and capabilities to please Solomon.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: The hoopoe says it can perch, look down to the ground, and detect hidden underground
water, including its depth and qualities.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: Solomon appoints the hoopoe as a land purveyor for troops traveling through
sandy deserts so that water will not be lacking.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: hare
description: A scheming hare who reports an alleged rival lion and guides the lion
toward a well.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: lion
description: A lion who identifies himself as king, hears the hare's report, and
demands to be led to the alleged beast.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: hare's companion
description: The hare says this companion was kept as a pledge by the alleged rival
beast.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: alleged rival beast
description: A beast described in the hare's report as claiming kingship and calling
the lion a usurper.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Moses
description: Named as acting single-handed with the Red Sea at command to drown
Pharaoh's pursuing band.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Pharaoh
description: Named as pursuing with a vast ungodly band and as listening to Haman.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Nimrod
description: Named as one whom a gnat may annul by God's behest and as one who trusted
Satan.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: God
description: Invoked as ordaining events, knowing secrets, forming lions, pardoning
sin, and acting through behest.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Haman
description: Named as one to whom Pharaoh listened.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Satan
description: Named as one upon whom Nimrod pinned faith.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Solomon
description: A king who camps afield, receives the birds' homage, speaks their language,
knows their secrets, and appoints the hoopoe.
role_refs:
- role:10
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:11
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: birds
description: Birds who gather around Solomon, leave their ordinary calls, speak
articulately, and present their capacities.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: hoopoe
description: A bird who declares an ability to find hidden underground water and
is appointed to accompany troops in deserts.
role_refs:
- role:13
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: troops
description: Solomon's troops who may travel through sandy deserts and require water.
role_refs:
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: deceptive guide
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The hare leads the lion while having already selected the well as the lion's
death-scene.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: strategist
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The hare is described as scheming and plotting a stratagem.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: threatening ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The lion asserts kingship, threatens punishment if the report is false, and
follows the hare to confront the beast.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: pledge or hostage in reported speech
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The hare says the companion was kept as a pledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: reported challenger
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The alleged beast is reported as claiming kingship and calling the lion a
usurper.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: divinely enabled victor over pursuers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Moses is named with the Red Sea at command drowning Pharaoh's band.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: destroyed tyrant exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Pharaoh and Nimrod are presented as examples of the doom of those trusting
hostile or misleading counsel.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: divine disposer and addressee of prayer
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: God's behest empowers the gnat, and the prayer addresses God as knowing secrets,
forming lions, pardoning, and judging.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: misleading counselor exemplar
assigned_to:
- fig:9
- fig:10
basis: Pharaoh's listening to Haman and Nimrod's faith in Satan are cited as destructive
trust.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:10
label: king receiving homage
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Birds gather around Solomon to render homage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:11
label: knower of bird language and secrets
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The birds find that Solomon speaks their language and knows their secrets.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:12
label: homage-givers revealing abilities
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: The birds present their secrets, knowledge, sciences, voices, and capabilities
to please Solomon.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:13
label: hidden-water finder
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: The hoopoe says it can see hidden water under the ground, including depth
and qualities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:14
label: appointed desert water purveyor
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: Solomon names the hoopoe Purveyor-General on land for troops traveling through
deserts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: role:15
label: desert travelers needing water
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: The troops are described as going through sandy deserts where the hoopoe
will prevent water shortage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: well
literal_form: A nearby well or pit chosen by the hare as the lion's death-scene.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: water
literal_form: Stream water, Red Sea water, pleasant waters in prayer, and hidden
underground water detected by the hoopoe.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:8
- fig:13
- fig:14
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:3
label: fire
literal_form: Fire in the prayer that pleasant waters not burn like fire and that
a fiery furnace not take the form of a stream.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: trap and bait
literal_form: A warning image in which a foe vaunts bait while laying a trap and
conceals poison in sugarcandy.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: bandage over the eye of faith
literal_form: Madness described as a bandage to the eye of faith, causing false
perception.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: bird language
literal_form: Birds leave ordinary cries and speak articulately with Solomon in
a shared language.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:7
label: sandy desert
literal_form: Sandy deserts through which Solomon's troops travel and where water
scarcity is addressed.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
- fig:13
- fig:14
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Hare reports a rival king to the lion
summary: The hare tells the lion that another beast has claimed kingship, called
the lion a usurper, and kept the hare's companion as a pledge.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Lion follows the hare toward the well
summary: The lion orders the hare to guide him, and the hare leads him toward a
nearby well chosen as the lion's death-scene.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Examples of the weak overcoming the strong
summary: The narrator gives examples in which water carries away chaff, Moses drowns
Pharaoh's band through the Red Sea, and a gnat destroys Nimrod by God's behest.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Warning against hostile counsel and deceptive appearances
summary: The passage warns that a foe may speak as a friend, offer bait while setting
a trap, and conceal poison; it then urges prayer for protection from divine trial
and false perception.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Solomon receives the birds' homage
summary: Birds gather around Solomon, speak with him, and present their knowledge
and capacities to please him.
figure_refs:
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:6
label: Hoopoe appointed to find water for armies
summary: The hoopoe claims to detect hidden underground water, and Solomon appoints
it to accompany troops through deserts so water will not be lacking.
figure_refs:
- fig:11
- fig:13
- fig:14
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Deceptive animal guide leads a stronger ruler to destruction
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The hare, explicitly described as scheming and plotting, guides the lion
toward a well selected as the lion's death-scene.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The actual death is anticipated in this passage but not completed within
the supplied lines.
- id: motif:2
label: Weak agent overcomes the strong through divine or subtle means
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The passage juxtaposes water carrying chaff, Moses drowning Pharaoh's band,
and a gnat destroying Nimrod by God's behest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses these as didactic exempla rather than narrating each
episode in full.
- id: motif:3
label: Treacherous counsel disguised as friendship
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage warns that a foe speaking in friendly guise displays bait, lays
a trap, and conceals poison.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is stated as moral instruction, not as a separate narrative episode.
- id: motif:4
label: Prayer for protection from divine trial and inverted perception
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The prayer asks God not to crush the trusting servant, not to unleash lions,
and not to transform pleasant waters into burning fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The motif is devotional and reflective; the passage does not present a
resolved ritual or miracle.
- id: motif:5
label: King understands the speech of birds
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Birds gather around Solomon and recognize that he speaks their language and
knows their secrets.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: No broader taxonomy reference for animal language was supplied, so the
closest available family is wisdom.
- id: motif:6
label: Bird as detector of hidden water for desert travel
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The hoopoe says it can identify hidden underground water, its depth, qualities,
and source, and Solomon appoints it to aid troops in deserts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The supplied taxonomy includes water as a symbol but no specific motif
family for water-finding animals.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the doom of one who acts on a foe's arrangement
with Pharaoh listening to Haman and Nimrod trusting Satan.
claim_level: same_function
target: Pharaoh-Haman and Nimrod-Satan exempla of destructive trust in hostile counsel
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is internal to the passage and moral-exemplary; it does
not establish historical contact or common inheritance.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage aligns the hare-lion stratagem with a broader pattern in which
apparently weak agents can defeat stronger powers, as in Moses against Pharaoh
and the gnat against Nimrod.
claim_level: same_function
target: 'Weak-over-strong exempla: Moses and Pharaoh; gnat and Nimrod'
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage does not explicitly state that the hare's act is divinely
commanded; the analogy is inferential from its placement beside the exempla.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8097-8113 / verse 290-295
quote_or_summary: The hare reports that another beast claims kingship, calls the
lion a usurper, keeps the hare's companion as pledge, and threatens violence.
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 8114-8123 / verse 295-300
quote_or_summary: The lion orders the hare to guide him to the beast; the hare sets
out in front as guide.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 8124-8128 / verse 300
quote_or_summary: A nearby well seen by the hare is chosen as the lion's death-scene,
and the two travel toward it as the hare's stratagem unfolds.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 8129-8135 / verse 305
quote_or_summary: The narrator says water carries away chaff, Moses with the Red
Sea drowns Pharaoh's band, and a gnat by God's behest may destroy Nimrod.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 8136-8146 / verse 305-310
quote_or_summary: The text compares trusting a foe to Pharaoh listening to Haman
and Nimrod trusting Satan, and warns that a seeming friend may lay a trap and
conceal poison.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 8147-8160 / verse 310-315
quote_or_summary: A prayer asks God, knower of secrets and pardoner of sin, not
to crush the servant, not to unleash lions, and not to make pleasant waters burn
like fire.
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 8161-8166
quote_or_summary: Madness is described as a bandage to the eye of faith and as false
judgment, such as seeing a stone as a pearl.
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 8167-8174 / verse 320
quote_or_summary: Solomon camps in the field; birds flock around him in homage,
discover he speaks their language and knows their secrets, and speak articulately.
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 8175-8188 / verse 325-330
quote_or_summary: The birds reveal their secrets, knowledge, sciences, voices, and
capabilities in order to please Solomon and gain his esteem.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 8189-8202 / verse 330-335
quote_or_summary: The hoopoe states that from its perch it looks down and sees hidden
water under the ground, including location, depth, qualities, and source material.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 8203-8210
quote_or_summary: Solomon appoints the hoopoe as Purveyor-General on land to travel
with troops through sandy deserts so water will not be scarce.
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: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Some motifs are didactic
or embedded exempla rather than complete narrative episodes.
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: |-
No external comparisons or unsupplied taxonomy identifiers were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l8097-l8210
passage_sha256=2898fca2b7e4661eca2301280c82e5797eda149dcb84dc73ffb9e7854b30423d