batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8313-l8423
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8313-l8423
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 8313-8423
start: '8313'
end: '8423'
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 tells a lion that fear has made him powerless and gives examples
of how all parts of nature are subject to change, weakness, and trouble. He then
claims that the lion's enemy lives in a well. The lion carries the hare to the
well, sees his own reflection in the water, mistakes it for another lion with
a hare, and leaps in. The passage concludes with moral reflections that injustice
is a pit into which tyrants fall and that the weak may appeal to God as protector.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The hare says he cannot move, has fainted from fear, trembles, and has become
pale like ashes.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The hare says the face's color reveals the state of the heart and compares
visible or audible signs to bells, neighing, door-creaks, and braying.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The hare lists natural and cosmic examples of change or subjection, including
sun, planets, moon, earth, sands, air, water, fire, sea, and sky.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: 'The hare states that a person is a small part mixed from opposites: fire,
air, water, and earth.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The narrator says the hare tricked the lion with specious lies.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The hare tells the lion that the lion's foe rests in a well and that the pit
is his stronghold.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The lion carries the hare on his back to the well, and both look down into
the water.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The water reflects a lion and a hare; the lion thinks he sees another lion
with a fat hare on its back.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The lion sets the hare down and leaps into the well.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The narrator states that the lion fell into the pit he had dug for others
and that iniquity is a pit into which tyrants fall.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The speaker warns the unjust mighty person that he digs a pit for himself
and weaves a web around himself like a silkworm.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The speaker says the weak should not be regarded as friendless, because they
may flee to their Protector and call upon God.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: hare
description: A hare who claims to be overcome by fear, directs the lion to a well,
asks to be carried, and is later set down safely.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: lion
description: A powerful lion who hears the hare's claims, carries the hare to the
well, misreads his reflection as an enemy, and leaps into the well.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: supposed foe in the well
description: The enemy whom the hare claims is resting in the well; the lion identifies
his own reflection as this foe.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: God / Protector / Lord
description: The divine protector to whom the weak victim may flee and call, bringing
wrath upon the oppressor.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: weak victim
description: A generalized wronged person described as weak, fleeing to the Protector
and calling upon God.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: tyrant or unjust mighty person
description: A generalized strong wrongdoer who commits injustice, digs a pit for
himself, and may face divine wrath.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: speaker feigning helpless fear
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The hare says fear has made him unable to move and has taken his color, strength,
and speech.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: deceiver of the stronger animal
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The narrator says the hare tricked the lion with specious lies and then led
him to the well.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: powerful predator or ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The hare addresses the lion as potent lord and prince, and the lion asserts
the strength of his arm.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: self-deceived victim of pride
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The lion mistakes his own reflection for another lion and leaps into the
well with pride.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: illusory rival
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The supposed foe in the well is represented by the lion's own reflected shape
in the water.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: divine protector of the weak
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage says the weak flee to their Protector and call upon God, after
which the Lord's wrath is seen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:7
label: wronged supplicant
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The weak victim of wrong calls upon God and raises a clamour in heaven's
hall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: unjust tyrant
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The moral statements identify tyrants and unjust mighty persons as falling
into the pit of iniquity that they dig for themselves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: well or pit
literal_form: A well or pit said to be the foe's stronghold and into which the lion
leaps.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:2
label: water reflection
literal_form: Water in the well reflects a lion and a hare, leading the lion to
perceive another lion.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: pale face
literal_form: A face made pale or ash-colored by fear, said to indicate the state
of the heart.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: four opposed elements
literal_form: Fire, air, water, and earth described as opposites mixed in the human
being.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: self-made web
literal_form: A web woven around oneself like that of a silkworm, used for the unjust
person's self-entrapment.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: heaven's hall
literal_form: The ranks in heaven's hall from which a clamour rises when the wronged
weak victim calls upon God.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Hare's discourse on fear and universal subjection
summary: The hare claims fear has made him helpless and explains that visible signs
reveal inward states; he then extends the idea of subjection and change across
nature and the cosmos.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Hare points the lion toward the well
summary: After the narrator says the hare has tricked the lion, the hare claims
that the lion's foe rests in a well and asks to look down from the lion's back.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Lion deceived by reflection
summary: The lion carries the hare to the well, sees the water's reflection, mistakes
it for another lion with a hare, sets the hare down, and leaps into the well.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Moralization on injustice and divine aid
summary: The passage generalizes the lion's fall into a warning that tyrants fall
into the pits they dig and that the weak may appeal to God as protector against
the strong.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: weak trickster overcomes powerful oppressor
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The hare is explicitly said to trick the lion with lies and uses the boundary
of the well's reflective water to cause the lion to leap into danger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents the hare as deceptive, but the taxonomy label is
broad and should be reviewed for fit.
- id: motif:2
label: wrongdoer falls into his own pit
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The narrator states that the lion fell into the pit he had dug for others
and that iniquity is a pit into which tyrants fall.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The immediate fall is caused by the hare's deception; divine judgment
is explicit mainly in the subsequent moral warning.
- id: motif:3
label: divine protection of the weak against the strong
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The speaker says the weak may flee to their Protector and that the Lord's
wrath will be seen when the wronged victim calls upon God.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: This is expressed as moral exhortation after the animal tale rather than
as a separate narrated intervention.
- id: motif:4
label: human and cosmic life as mixture of opposites
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The hare describes the human being as a small part mixed from opposites and
states that life arises from concord of opposites while death results from discord.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This material functions as rhetoric within the hare's speech and is not
the central plot action.
- id: motif:5
label: wisdom through recognizing signs
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The hare's speech states that countenance and other signs reveal inner or
unseen states, and the plot turns on misreading a visual sign in water.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage contrasts sign-reading with deception; the lion's reading
is false, so the motif should be reviewed.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8313-8334
quote_or_summary: The hare says fear has made him unable to move, pale, weak, and
nearly speechless; he also says the face's color indicates the heart's state.
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 8335-8372
quote_or_summary: 'The hare lists examples of natural and cosmic change or vulnerability:
sun, planets, moon, earth, sands, air, water, fire, sea, sky, and planets under
changing conditions.'
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 8373-8380
quote_or_summary: "“A part, too, that’s compound of every opposite,— / Of fire,
and air, and water; adding earth its mite.” The passage also says life comes from
concord of opposites and death from discord."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 8386-8389
quote_or_summary: "“’Twas thus the hare the lion tricked with specious lies; / And
added: ‘Hence the reason why I cannot rise.’”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 8390-8402
quote_or_summary: The lion asks what causes the hare's fear; the hare says the lion's
foe rests in a well and that the pit is his stronghold. The lion orders the hare
onward, and the hare asks to look from the lion's back.
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 8403-8412
quote_or_summary: The lion carries the hare to the well; in the water they see the
reflection of a lion and hare. The lion thinks it is another lion with a hare,
sets the hare down, and leaps into the well.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 8413-8418
quote_or_summary: "“He thus fell in the pit he had for others dug.” The passage
adds that iniquity is a pit into which tyrants fall."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/sufi/project-gutenberg/mesnevi-book-1-redhouse.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 8419-8423
quote_or_summary: The speaker warns an unjust mighty person that he digs a pit for
himself and weaves a web around himself like a silkworm unless he conforms to
justice.
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 8423-8423
quote_or_summary: 'The passage says not to see the weak as friendless: if the strong
are like an elephant, the weak flee to their Protector, and the wronged victim''s
call to God raises a clamour in heaven''s hall and brings the Lord''s wrath.'
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: uncertain
notes: Plot elements are explicit. Motif-family assignments are provisional because
available taxonomy labels are broad, and no cross-text comparison is made within
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: '2026-04-29'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage does not itself compare this episode to another text, tradition, or motif family beyond its own moral generalizations.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l8313-l8423
passage_sha256=99c2d542d1e2d1d76f82e32224887181bbe324b9ae59093a8a7ea044cca0d0b4