batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8978-l9093
---
record_id: batch.motif.sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg-l8978-l9093
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 8978-9093
start: '8978'
end: '9093'
translation: The Mesnevi
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A confined parrot asks a merchant to carry a message to free parrots in
Hind, seeking advice and recalling bonds of love. The narrator compares the parrot’s
tale to the soul’s condition before God. The merchant reaches Hind and delivers
the message; one parrot falls as if dead, causing the merchant to regret speaking.
The passage then reflects on the tongue as fire, the power of words to harm or
revive, patience, and saintly endurance.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The confined parrot asks the merchant to tell other parrots that he is kept
shut in a cell and wants their advice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The parrot contrasts his own cage with the other parrots sitting on trees
and frequenting forests.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The parrot speaks of longing for absent friends and of grief caused by separation.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The narrator states that the soul’s tale is like the parrot’s tale and describes
a soul crying to the Lord.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage describes the soul as ascending toward heaven while the body remains
on earth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The merchant reaches Hind, finds a flock of parrots in a wooded retreat, and
cries out the confined parrot’s message.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: After the message is delivered, one parrot in the flock trembles, falls to
the earth, and appears breathless.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The merchant believes his message has killed a bird related to his own parrot.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The passage compares the tongue to flint and steel and spoken words to sparks
or fire.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The passage warns that a rash word may set an assembly ablaze or raise molehills
into mountains.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The passage says words can kill and resuscitate and calls them godlike.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: The passage praises patience and says that one who shows patience will mount
to heaven’s dome.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: confined parrot / Poll
description: A parrot kept confined in a cell or cage, who asks the merchant to
carry a message to other parrots.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: merchant
description: The person who carries the confined parrot’s message to Hind and speaks
it to a flock of parrots.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: parrots of Hind
description: Free parrots found in a wooded retreat in Hind, associated with trees
and forests.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: one bird of the flock
description: A parrot in the flock that trembles, falls to the earth, and appears
to stop breathing after hearing the message.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: soul
description: The narrator compares the soul’s tale to the parrot’s tale; the soul
cries to the Lord and ascends toward heaven.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: God / Lord
description: The divine hearer who hears the anguished cry and wipes away tears.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: captive speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The parrot says he is kept confined, shut in a cell, and caged.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: lover in separation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The parrot speaks of longing for absent friends, grief, love, and slavery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: message-bearer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The merchant promises to carry the parrot’s request and later cries out the
message to the flock.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: free distant companions
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The parrots are imagined as sitting on trees and are found in a wooded retreat
in Hind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: apparent death responder
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: One bird trembles, falls prone, and seems not to breathe after the message
is delivered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: spiritual analogue of the parrot
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The narrator explicitly says the soul’s tale is like the parrot’s tale and
describes its cry and ascent.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:7
label: divine hearer and comforter
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: God hears the cry of the anguished one and wipes off his tears.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: cage or cell
literal_form: cell; cage
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: trees and forests
literal_form: trees; forests; wooded retreat
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: rose and thorn
literal_form: thorn; rose; roseleaves
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: fire of speech
literal_form: flint and steel; sparks; fire; assembly ablaze
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: heavenly ascent
literal_form: heaven’s gate; heaven’s highest sphere; heaven’s dome
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: four rivers
literal_form: four rivers
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: The confined parrot requests a message
summary: The confined parrot asks the merchant to tell free parrots of his captivity,
longing, and desire for advice.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: The parrot’s tale is compared with the soul
summary: The narrator turns from the parrot to the soul, describing its cry to God
and ascent while the body remains on earth.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: The merchant delivers the message in Hind
summary: The merchant reaches a wooded retreat in Hind, finds parrots, and speaks
the confined parrot’s message to them.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: A parrot falls as if dead
summary: One parrot trembles and falls apparently breathless; the merchant laments
that his spoken message has killed it.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Warning about speech
summary: The passage reflects that the tongue can produce fiery sparks and that
rash speech can harm an assembly or even a world.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Patience and safe conduct
summary: The passage praises patience, associates patience with mounting to heaven,
and warns against rashness.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Captive bird seeks wisdom from free companions
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The confined parrot asks that free parrots be told of his condition and that
they provide wise advice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage frames the request as advice
rather than a formal wisdom quest.
- id: motif:2
label: Captivity contrasted with freedom in trees and forest
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The parrot is caged while the other parrots sit on trees and frequent forests.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: No specific supplied motif family exactly matches captivity versus freedom.
- id: motif:3
label: Separated lover accepts pain from the beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: The parrot’s speech dwells on longing, love, wrath and grace, and the sweetness
of suffering from the beloved; the narrator then links the parrot’s tale to the
soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The beloved language is applied within the parrot’s message and then spiritualized
by the narrator; the exact target of love shifts across the passage.
- id: motif:4
label: Soul ascends while body remains below
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: The soul is described as ascending to heaven’s gate and being with the Lord
in the highest sphere while the frame remains on earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is contemplative rather than a narrated journey episode.
- id: motif:5
label: Speech as dangerous fire
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The tongue is compared to flint and steel, a word to fire, and rash speech
to sparks that can set an assembly or world ablaze.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is expressed as moral instruction, not as an external mythic
event.
- id: motif:6
label: Words that kill and revive
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
- resurrection
basis: The passage links the apparently fatal message to a reflection that words
can kill and resuscitate.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The bird’s death is described as apparent, and the later statement is
aphoristic rather than a completed resurrection scene in this passage.
- id: motif:7
label: Patience leads upward
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
- wisdom
basis: The passage says that patience is beloved by sensible people and that one
who exhibits patience shall mount to heaven’s dome.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The ascent is moral and didactic, not a detailed visionary ascent.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares the confined parrot’s tale with the soul’s
condition, making the parrot story function as an analogue for spiritual longing
and ascent.
claim_level: same_function
target: the soul’s tale within the same passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is an internal comparison stated by the narrator, not evidence
of comparison across independent traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8978-8990
quote_or_summary: The parrot asks the merchant to tell other parrots that he is
confined in a cell, sends love and best wishes, seeks wise advice, and asks why
he is caged while they sit on trees and frequent forests.
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 8991-9025
quote_or_summary: The parrot speaks of absent loved ones, slavery, remembrance,
oaths, grief, wrath and grace, thorn and rose, and love that makes wrongs seem
blissful.
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 9026-9041
quote_or_summary: The narrator says the soul’s tale is like the parrot’s tale; a
crying soul calls to the Lord, God wipes away tears, the soul ascends to heaven’s
gate, and its frame remains on earth while its pure soul is with the Lord.
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 9044-9050
quote_or_summary: The merchant keeps his promise, reaches Hind, finds a flock of
parrots in a wooded retreat, stops his beast, and calls out the message from his
parrot.
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 9051-9059
quote_or_summary: One bird of the flock trembles, falls to the earth, and seems
breathless; the merchant regrets delivering the message and says he has killed
a related bird.
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 9060-9069
quote_or_summary: The passage compares the tongue to flint and steel and words to
fiery sparks, warning that rash speech among vulnerable hearers can set an assembly
or world ablaze.
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 9071-9074
quote_or_summary: The passage says souls appear Jesus-like in basis and that words
are godlike in their ability to kill and resuscitate.
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 9075-9093
quote_or_summary: The passage counsels sweet speech and patience, says patient people
mount to heaven’s dome, contrasts impatience with coming wrath, and warns against
rashness even when brave.
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: high
notes: The main narrative actions and explicit allegorical comparison are clear.
Some motif-family assignments are broad because the available taxonomy does not
include exact labels for captivity, message-bearing, or speech-as-fire.
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 available taxonomy terms.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:sufi-rumi-mesnevi-book-1-redhouse-gutenberg__l8978-l9093
passage_sha256=a76ab5abcfe746abc1c4792a9f8384c6da83c4ba2c8e52f777ca37403da770c9