Evidence
Each row links back to the complete public-domain source text and the structured extraction record.
| Tradition | Source | Passage | Confidence | Evidence | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman | The Aeneid of Virgil | BOOK FOURTH / THE LOVE OF DIDO, AND HER END / BOOK FIFTH / THE GAMES OF THE FLEET; lines 3234-3313 | low | In Beroë's guise, Iris says seven summers have passed since Troy, urges building a city there, calls for burning the ships, claims Cassandra's phantom gave blazing brands and said 'Here seek your Troy,' and points to four altars of Neptune. | record |
| Ainu | Aino Folk-Tales | AINO FOLK-LORE. / I.--TALES ACCOUNTING FOR THE ORIGIN OF PHENOMENA. / II.--MORAL TALES. / IV.--MISCELLANEOUS TALES.; lines 1629-1717 | medium | The old chief says some of his people will go to the fisherman's country for trade and warns him to lie down, hide his head, and not look while being taken by them in the boat. | record |
| Ainu | Aino Folk-Tales | HONORARY SECRETARIES. / INTRODUCTION. / AINO FOLK-LORE. / I.--TALES ACCOUNTING FOR THE ORIGIN OF PHENOMENA.; lines 902-1009 | high | In ancient days, the new world is unsettled and burning beneath a thin crust, so people stay in huts; Okikurumi fishes for them and sends Turesh with food, while commanding them not to ask questions or look at her face. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1552-1647 | medium | At sunset Sadie tells the porter to go; he asks to stay until morning, and Zobeida permits it only if he promises to ask no questions about anything he may see. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1649-1738 | high | Zobeida welcomes the newcomers but asks them to have eyes and no tongues, and to ask no questions about anything strange they see. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1740-1858 | high | The Caliph, Calenders, and porter discuss the mystery; the Caliph wants to compel an explanation, while the vizir reminds him of the hostesses' condition and advises waiting until morning. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 1860-1970 | medium | The narrator describes yearly visits to his uncle's court, closeness with his cousin, and the cousin's request for oaths of faithfulness and secrecy about a completed building. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2193-2294 | medium | The narrator says he does not fear the genius, intends to break the talisman, and vows to stamp out the whole race. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 2842-2935 | medium | At the summit, Agib sleeps under the dome; an old man appears in a dream, tells him to dig up a brass bow and three lead arrows, shoot the statue, bury the horse, board a boat rowed by a metal man, and not speak Allah's name. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 3043-3146 | high | The ten young men greet the narrator, invite him into the castle, bring him to a hall with ten small blue sofas and a middle sofa, seat him on the carpet, and tell him to ask no questions. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 3148-3248 | high | They will leave their keys, but ask him: “The Golden Door, alone, forbear to open,” warning that if it is unlocked they must bid him farewell forever. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 3250-3355 | high | The ten young men, accompanied by the old man, say they too opened the Golden Door while the princesses were absent, lost happiness, suffered punishment, and cannot receive the narrator; they direct him to the Court of Bagdad to meet one who can decide his destiny. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 8383-8498 | medium | "If only a roc's egg," replied he, "were hung up from the middle of this dome, it would be the wonder of the world." | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 8605-8711 | medium | Before sealing the treasure, the dervish takes a small wooden box of special ointment from a chased golden vase, hides it in his dress, and repeats the fire, perfume, and spell so the rock closes. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 8713-8823 | high | The dervish gives the box and says the ointment applied to the left eye reveals treasures hidden in the earth, but touching the right eye with it destroys sight forever. | record |
| Islamicate Folklore | The Arabian Nights Entertainments | The Arabian Nights Entertainments; lines 8934-9035 | medium | Amina realizes he followed her, becomes violently enraged, takes a vessel of water, puts her hand in it, murmurs unheard words, and sprinkles the water on his face. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | CONTENTS / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / ANDREW LANG.; lines 1839-1964 | low | The women cook and eat the flesh hungrily, feel ill afterward, and the next day Ouyan again brings his own flesh. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | CONTENTS / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / ANDREW LANG.; lines 2494-2588 | medium | The Wirreenun tell the men they will hold a borah, but women must not know; men are to go out as if hunting and secretly prepare the ground. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | CONTENTS / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / ANDREW LANG.; lines 868-931 | medium | Bootoolgah and Goonur say they will keep fire secret from all the tribes, cook in a Bingahwingul scrub, and hide firesticks in seeds and in a comebee. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | CONTENTS / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / ANDREW LANG.; lines 933-1019 | medium | Boolooral and Quarrian follow Bootoolgah and Goonur, climb a high tree, and see them use a stick from a comebee to make flame and cook fish in ashes. | record |
| Buddhist | Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1 | TABLE VII. / THE BODISATS. / TABLE VIII. / THE DISTANT EPOCH.; lines 5545-5653 | high | The Four Omens are named as “A man worn out by age, a, sick man, a dead body, and a monk.” | record |
| Daoist | Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer | HORSES' HOOFS. / CHAPTER X. / OPENING TRUNKS. / B.C. 481.; lines 4434-4508 | medium | A report of a Sage causes people to take provisions, neglect parents and masters, and travel in long lines; rulers' desire for knowledge and neglect of Tao bring imperial confusion. | record |
| Daoist | Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer | CHAPTER XXI. / CHAPTER XXII. / KNOWLEDGE TRAVELS NORTH. / CHAPTER XXIII.; lines 9928-10060 | medium | Lao Tzŭ says the constant are sought after by men and assisted by God; he also says study concerns what cannot be learnt, practice what cannot be accomplished, discussion what cannot be proved, knowledge should stop at the unknowable, and those who do not follow this will be destroyed by God. | record |
| Sufi | The Confessions of Al Ghazzali | THE SUBTERFUGES OF THE SOPHISTS / THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH / THE AIM OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY AND ITS RESULTS / DIVISIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHIC SCIENCES; lines 613-696 | low | A student of mathematics admires its subtle and clear proofs and may increase in confidence toward philosophy as a whole. | record |
| Sufi | The Confessions of Al Ghazzali | THE SUBTERFUGES OF THE SOPHISTS / THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH / THE AIM OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY AND ITS RESULTS / DIVISIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHIC SCIENCES; lines 794-869 | medium | The unskilled swimmer is kept from the seashore, the child from serpents, but not the expert diver or charmer. | record |
| Sufi | The Confessions of Al Ghazzali | THE SUBTERFUGES OF THE SOPHISTS / THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH / THE AIM OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY AND ITS RESULTS / DIVISIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHIC SCIENCES; lines 871-909 | medium | Those who accept philosophers’ opinions may trust works such as those of the “Brothers of purity” because they contain sayings of the Prophet and Sufi quotations, and may then accept their errors by gradual degrees. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | CHAPTER XI. HIS THREE CALLS TO CORMAC / CHAPTER XII. CLIODNA'S WAVE / CHAPTER XIII. HIS CALL TO CONNLA / CHAPTER XIV. TADG IN MANANNAN'S ISLANDS; lines 4696-4784 | medium | The woman names the country Inislocha, the Lake Island, says Rudrach and Dergcroche sons of Bodb are its kings, tells Tadg the story of Ireland, and directs him to the middle dun for knowledge. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Gods and Fighting Men | BOOK TWO: FINN'S HELPERS / CHAPTER I. THE LAD OF THE SKINS / CHAPTER II. BLACK, BROWN, AND GREY / CHAPTER III. THE HOUND; lines 6939-7029 | medium | The three sons of Iruath stay with Finn about a year; they keep apart from the Fianna with their hound between them, and at night a wall of fire surrounds them so no one can look at them. Donn remarks on the wonder of this concealment. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS; lines 6586-6652 | medium | Frazer states that all Aryan peoples from Hindustan to the Hebrides tell external-soul stories in various forms; a common form has an invulnerable being hiding his soul far away, a captive princess learning the secret, and a hero destroying the hidden life to kill the being. | record |
| Comparative | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) | The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS; lines 7602-7660 | medium | In a fairy tale, a princess asks a giant where he keeps his soul; he gives false or evasive answers until the secret is obtained. The author compares the giant’s reticence with secrecy about the soul’s hiding-place. | record |
| Celtic Irish | Heroic Romances of Ireland | PAGE 81 / PAGE 82 / PAGE 83 / PAGE 85; lines 7854-7873 | medium | The demons are described as warring against men in bodily form and showing delights and secret things to them. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | INTRODUCTION / BIBLIOGRAPHY / HESIOD / HESIODS WORKS AND DAYS; lines 1532-1621 | low | Zeus sends Hermes to bring the finished snare to Epimetheus as a gift; Epimetheus ignores Prometheus' warning not to accept Zeus' gift and understands after taking it. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | THE GREAT WORKS / THE IDAEAN DACTYLS / THE THEOGONY / THE CATALOGUES OF WOMEN AND EOIAE1701; lines 3641-3768 | high | Phineus is blinded either because he revealed the road to Phrixus or because he preferred long life to sight; he had sons Thynus and Mariandynus and was brought by Harpies to the land of milk-feeders with wagons for houses. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | II. 1745 / THE SHIELD OF HERACLES / THE MARRIAGE OF CEYX / THE GREAT EOIAE; lines 4786-4884 | medium | Phineus is blinded because he told Phrixus the way. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | II. TO DEMETER / III. TO DELIAN APOLLO / TO PYTHIAN APOLLO / IV. TO HERMES; lines 6642-6699 | medium | Apollo says it is not lawful for Hermes or other gods to learn the requested sooth-saying; only Zeus' mind knows it, and Apollo is sworn as the sole god to know Zeus' wise counsel. | record |
| Greek | Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica | III. TO DELIAN APOLLO / TO PYTHIAN APOLLO / IV. TO HERMES / V. TO APHRODITE; lines 6890-6966 | high | The mortal is told to say the child is from a Nymph; if he boasts of lying with Aphrodite, Zeus will smite him with a smoking thunderbolt. He is told to refrain and not name her. | record |
| Greek | The Iliad | POPES PREFACE TO THE ILIAD OF HOMER / THE ILIAD. / BOOK I. / THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON.; lines 2900-2969 | medium | Jove rebukes the goddess for trying to learn hidden heavenly resolves, states that the decree is immutable, and commands submission under threat of avenging power. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | JAPANESE FAIRY TALES / MY LORD BAG OF RICE / THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW / THE STORY OF URASHIMA TARO, THE FISHER LAD; lines 1101-1205 | medium | On the beach, Urashima cannot find the way back and remembers the tamate-bako, which the Princess told him never to open because it contained a precious thing; he decides to open it for help. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE FARMER AND THE BADGER / THE ADVENTURES OF KINTARO, THE GOLDEN BOY / THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO DID NOT WISH TO DIE / THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD; lines 3389-3500 | medium | The stepmother says the daughter has made an image of her and is trying to kill her by magic art, cursing her daily. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE ADVENTURES OF KINTARO, THE GOLDEN BOY / THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO DID NOT WISH TO DIE / THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA; lines 3614-3738 | high | After the wood gives out, the old woman says she will gather more and tells the priest to stay in place, take care of the house, and not go near or look into the inner room. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | THE ADVENTURES OF KINTARO, THE GOLDEN BOY / THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO DID NOT WISH TO DIE / THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD / THE GOBLIN OF ADACHIGAHARA; lines 3740-3793 | high | The man tells himself the woman will not know if he looks, rises, creeps to the forbidden spot, opens the sliding door, and looks in. | record |
| Japanese | Japanese Fairy Tales | JAPANESE FAIRY TALES / MY LORD BAG OF RICE / THE TONGUE-CUT SPARROW / THE STORY OF URASHIMA TARO, THE FISHER LAD; lines 983-1099 | high | Otohime Sama gives Urashima a beautiful lacquer box tied with silk, calls it the tamate-bako, says it contains something precious, and warns him never to open it or something dreadful will happen. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM / BOOK II; lines 23935-24126 | medium | The Sun-child receives a silver-edged, golden-headed magic fish-knife from heaven and carves the Fire-pike, revealing nested fish, colored balls, and the fire fallen from the seventh heaven through nine ether regions. | record |
| Finnish/Karelian | Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland | PREFACE / JOHN MARTIN CRAWFORD. / THE KALEVALA. / PROEM; lines 8765-8952 | medium | Wainamoinen explains that he was building a vessel and came to Tuoni's empire to learn three magic sayings, the lost words of the Master, needed to complete it. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 16572-16682 | medium | Adam and his wife are told to dwell in Paradise, eat freely, but not approach a tree. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 17182-17320 | medium | A man was given signs, departed from them, Satan followed him, and his likeness is said to be like a dog that lolls out its tongue. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 18733-18863 | medium | Adam and his wife are told to dwell in the Garden and eat freely but not approach a tree; Satan makes them slip, they are banished and told to descend to earth with enmity and provision for a time; Adam learns words of prayer and God turns to him. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 19103-19221 | high | Satans are said to have read in Solomon's reign; Solomon is denied to be unbelieving; Satans are said to teach sorcery to men and to be connected with what was revealed to Harut and Marut at Babel. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 20008-20136 | high | Babel is described as the fountainhead of magic; Haroot and Maroot are two angels sent to be tempted, who sinned, chose present punishment, and remain suspended by the feet in a rocky pit at Babel as teachers of magic. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 20008-20136 | medium | A note on Solomon's books of magic reports proposed Persian origin and Geiger's Rabbinic-transfer explanation involving angels and the Deluge. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 23573-23695 | medium | People ask about the Hour, whose knowledge is with God alone. Infidels are cursed and assigned the flame forever; when their faces are rolled in the fire, they wish they had obeyed God and the Apostle and say their chiefs and great ones misled them, asking double chastisement for them. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 24460-24582 | medium | No apostle or prophet is said to have been sent without Satan injecting wrong desire; God nullifies Satan’s suggestion and affirms revelations, making the injection a trial for diseased or hardened hearts and a confirmation for those given Knowledge. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 26317-26427 | medium | The passage says evil and good are not alike; warns believers not to ask about things that may pain them; rejects invented customs concerning Bahira, Saba, Wasila, and Hami; and criticizes reliance on ancestral faith without knowledge or guidance. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 4762-4955 | medium | Angels are ranged for praise; God is one; the lower heaven is adorned with stars that guard against rebellious Satan, who is driven off, and a flame pursues one who steals a word. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 6133-6277 | medium | Satan offers to show Adam 'the tree of Eternity' and an unfailing kingdom; Adam and his wife eat, their nakedness appears, and they sew garden leaves to cover themselves. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 6279-6438 | low | Note observes that Muhammad seems unaware of the Genesis distinction between the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 6881-7048 | medium | The signs of the zodiac are set in the heavens and adorned; the heavens are guarded from every stoned Satan, except one who steals a hearing and is pursued by a visible flame. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PUBLIC SERVICES, / AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, / THE TRANSLATOR. / PREFACE; lines 8518-8693 | medium | The Djinn report trying the heavens and finding a mighty garrison and flaming darts; anyone sitting at listening seats finds an ambush of flaming darts. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER III. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 11298-11387 | medium | The people of scripture are asked why they disbelieve God's signs, clothe truth with vanity, and knowingly hide truth. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER III. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 12095-12178 | medium | The note says one who conceals knowledge God has given will be given a bridle of fire on the day of resurrection. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER IV. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER V. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 14398-14465 | medium | Believers are told not to ask about things that would pain them if declared; if asked while the Koran is sent down, they will be declared; God pardons and forgives; earlier people asked and then disbelieved. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER VI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER VII / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 15718-15805 | medium | Adam and his wife are told to dwell in paradise and eat freely but not approach a tree; Satan suggests the tree is forbidden only to prevent them becoming angels or immortal. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 20113-20209 | medium | Jacob tells Joseph not to tell the vision to his brothers, lest they devise a plot against him. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XIV. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XV. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 21485-21588 | medium | Twelve signs are placed in heaven for spectators and guarded from devils; a stealthy listener is struck by a visible flame. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XVI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XVII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 23058-23140 | medium | Notes discuss the spirit or soul, the limits of human knowledge, and a test involving the cave sleepers, Dhu'lkarnein, and the soul; Muhammad answers two histories but not the soul's origin. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XIX. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XX. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 24737-24829 | medium | God gave Adam a command, which Adam forgot, and Adam ate the forbidden fruit; the angels were told to worship Adam and did so, but Eblis refused; Adam is warned that this enemy may drive him and his wife from paradise. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | ENTITLED, AL FORKAN; REVEALED AT MECCA. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXVI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 27557-27599 | medium | The commentary explains that devils may secretly inspire earthly correspondents, or may convey incoherent scraps of angels' discourse that they hear by stealth. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER XXXI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXXII. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 29338-29435 | medium | A note lists five things known to God alone and recounts the story of the angel of death, Solomon, and a man carried by wind to India where his soul was appointed to be taken. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XXXVIII. / ENTITLED, S.; REVEALED AT MECCA. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 31690-31726 | medium | Eblis says, “By thy might do I swear, I will surely seduce them all,” except God's peculiarly chosen servants. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE / SECTION I. / SECTION II. / SECTION III; lines 3269-3318 | medium | Twenty-nine chapters begin with certain alphabetic letters, believed to be peculiar marks of the Koran concealing profound mysteries whose certain understanding has not been communicated to any mortal except the prophet. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER LXXII. / ENTITLED, THE GENII; REVEALED AT MECCA. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 37068-37158 | high | Certain men seek refuge with certain genii; the genii say they thought God would not raise anyone to life, formerly attempted to pry into heaven, found it filled with angelic guards and flaming darts, and now find a flame ambushing any listener at the celestial confines. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / FINIS / AN INDEX / OF THE; lines 39628-39754 | medium | "Arafat, Mount"; "Ark of Israel taken by the Amalekites"; "Arrows for divination forbidden". | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / FINIS / AN INDEX / OF THE; lines 39757-39845 | low | Eblis refuses to worship Adam at God's command, receives sentence, and occasions Adam's fall. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / FINIS / AN INDEX / OF THE; lines 39988-40053 | low | "Lots forbidden" | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | SECTION III / SECTION IV. / SECTION V. / OF CERTAIN NEGATIVE PRECEPTS IN THE KORN.; lines 6116-6169 | medium | Divining arrows are mixed and drawn again until a decisive answer is given; they are consulted before matters such as marriage or a journey. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | SECTION VI. / OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE KORAN IN CIVIL AFFAIRS. / SECTION VII. / SECTION VIII.; lines 8564-8637 | medium | The Batenites are described as a sect; the name is also given by some authors to Ismaelians and Karmatians, and is glossed as Esoterics or people of inward or hidden light or knowledge. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 8861-8933 | medium | Adam and his wife are told to dwell in the garden and eat freely, but not to approach the tree lest they become transgressors. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 8935-9023 | high | Sale's notes state that Mohammed places paradise in the seventh heaven and that opinions differ about the forbidden tree or fruit, including wheat, fig-tree, and vine. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 9415-9483 | high | The passage says people followed what devils devised against Solomon's kingdom; Solomon was not an unbeliever; the devils taught men sorcery. | record |
| Islamic | The Koran (Al-Qur'an) | CHAPTER I. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD / CHAPTER II. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 9415-9483 | medium | Sale's note says devils hid books of magic under Solomon's throne after his death to slander him; some refused the arts, others learned them, and Solomon was cleared of idolatry. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | INTRODUCTION / C. E. G. / THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN / PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC; lines 1454-1529 | medium | The first host calls himself Peredur's maternal uncle, says he will teach him customs, courtesy, gentleness, noble bearing, and knighthood, and instructs him not to ask the meaning of wondrous things if no one explains them. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | INTRODUCTION / C. E. G. / THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN / PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC; lines 1858-1941 | medium | The maiden places Peredur’s horse and arms in his lodging; in the morning the women ask the grey man to accept Peredur’s promise of secrecy, he refuses, and Peredur fights the host, killing one third without injury. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC / GERAINT THE SON OF ERBIN / THE DREAM OF RHONABWY / PWYLL PRINCE OF DYVED; lines 6937-7016 | high | At Gwales they enter a hall with two open doors and a closed third door toward Cornwall; Manawyddan says it may not be opened. They feast joyfully, forget sorrow, feel no weariness, lose awareness of time, and remain eighty years with the head. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC / GERAINT THE SON OF ERBIN / THE DREAM OF RHONABWY / PWYLL PRINCE OF DYVED; lines 7955-8056 | medium | Gronw tells Blodeuwedd to converse with Llew “under the guise of the dalliance of love” and learn how he may die. | record |
| Celtic Welsh | The Mabinogion | PWYLL PRINCE OF DYVED / THE DREAM OF MAXEN WLEDIG / HERE IS THE STORY OF LLUDD AND LLEVELYS / TALIESIN; lines 8612-8701 | medium | Caridwen resolves, by the arts of the Fferyllt books, to boil a cauldron of Inspiration and Science for Avagddu so that he may be honoured for knowledge of mysteries. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE. / VIII. / XIII. / XVII.; lines 14441-14476 | medium | A sinful morsel and a grain of wheat are said to congeal thought, eclipse the mind, and contrast bread of life with material bread. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | XIII. / XVII. / THE END. / FOOTNOTES:; lines 14479-14639 | medium | Satan is called “the Lapidated One”; Muslims are said to believe shooting stars are missiles cast by angels at demons trying to approach heaven to eavesdrop. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | XIII. / XVII. / THE END. / FOOTNOTES:; lines 14913-15087 | medium | The plant connected with Adam is called a caulescent plant; wheat is one gloss, compared by the translator to 'apple.' Adam and Eve confess sin with contrition and receive eventual pardon. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | XIII. / XVII. / THE END. / FOOTNOTES:; lines 15425-15637 | medium | Adam is said to have plucked an ear of corn, identified as the forbidden fruit, in paradise. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | XIII. / XVII. / THE END. / FOOTNOTES:; lines 15639-15771 | medium | The canda draconis is glossed as the descending node; the forbidden fruit in Islam is held to have been wheat. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | THE ACTS OF THE ADEPTS / CHAPTER I. / CHAPTER II. / CHAPTER III.; lines 3404-3516 | high | Muhammad privately recites the secrets and mysteries of the Brethren of Sincerity to ‘Alī, enjoining him not to divulge them to the uninitiated; the passage parenthetically compares the Brethren to Freemasons of the Muslim dervish world. | record |
| Sufi | The Mesnevi | OF QONYA. / PREFACE. / IN THE NAME OF GOD, / THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY-COMPASSIONATE.; lines 8212-8311 | medium | Divine decree wills that one prohibition costs Adam dearly; after reasoning about the prohibition, his appetites incline to taste the wheat. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | LITERALLY TRANSLATED WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS / INTRODUCTION. / BOOK I. / BOOK II.; lines 250-281 | medium | Æsculapius is cut from Coronis's womb and carried to Chiron's cave; Ocyrrhoë, Chiron's daughter, is changed into a mare while prophesying; Chiron invokes Apollo in vain because Apollo is tending oxen in Elis as a shepherd. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | BOOK THE SECOND. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 3609-3674 | high | Pallas encloses Ericthonius, born without a mother, in a basket of Actaean twigs, gives it to the three virgins descended from Cecrops, and forbids them to inquire into her secrets. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 3767-3868 | high | Fable X introduces Ocyrrhoe, daughter of Chiron; she was borne by Chariclo, learned her father's arts, sang the secrets of the Fates, and entered prophetic transport while Chiron rejoiced in his divine-origin pupil. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 3919-4011 | medium | Minerva turns stern eyes on Aglauros, sighs deeply, and recalls that Aglauros had profanely exposed her secrets by seeing the motherless progeny of the god of Lemnos. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE THIRD. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 4608-4685 | high | When he enters the spring-dripping grotto, the naked nymphs see a man, beat their breasts, shriek through the woods, and gather around Diana to cover her. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 5378-5452 | medium | Tiresias is described as son of Evenus and Chariclo, a renowned soothsayer; traditions say he died after drinking Telphusa’s water, and another version says he lost sight after seeing Minerva bathing. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 5796-5867 | medium | Pentheus, son of Echion and Agave and successor to Cadmus' kingdom, opposes Bacchic abuses and goes to Mount Cithaeron to chastise Bacchantes, who tear him in pieces; his mother and aunt are among the worshippers. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 6544-6633 | high | Celmus is described as wise and passionless and changed into adamant; another account says Jupiter imprisoned him for revealing the immortality of the gods. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 6933-7031 | medium | The notes describe Tityus punished by a devoured and renewed liver, Tantalus punished by unreachable food and drink after variant crimes, Sisyphus punished by endlessly rolling a stone up a mountain, and Ixion fastened to an incessantly turning wheel in Tartarus. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION.; lines 7245-7295 | medium | “A time will come, Atlas, when thy tree shall be stripped of its gold, and a son of Jove shall have the honor of the prize.” | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE SIXTH.; lines 9428-9441 | medium | Footnote 30 identifies the Hecatean herb as aconite or wolfsbane, says Hecate was Medea’s mother, and says Hecate first sought after and taught the properties of poisonous herbs. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE SIXTH. / EXPLANATION.; lines 9743-9815 | medium | Footnote says Tantalus, father of Niobe, was accused of indiscreetly divulging the secrets of the gods. | record |
| Roman | The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV | EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / EXPLANATION. / BOOK THE TENTH.; lines 3955-4038 | high | Orpheus receives Eurydice together with the condition that he must not turn his eyes back until he has passed the Avernian valleys, or the grant will be revoked. | record |
| Sufi | Mystics and Saints of Islam | CHAPTER V / CHAPTER VI / CHAPTER VII / CHAPTER VIII; lines 2040-2134 | medium | Abd Allah Khafif and Shibli praise Hallaj's possession of truth or shared path; others reproach him for revealing mysteries of truth to the vulgar herd. | record |
| Sufi | Mystics and Saints of Islam | CHAPTER VII / CHAPTER VIII / CHAPTER IX / CHAPTER X; lines 2409-2494 | medium | The library is later destroyed by fire; Avicenna is left as sole depository of its knowledge, and some claim he set the fire so he alone would possess the contents. | record |
| Sufi | Mystics and Saints of Islam | CHAPTER VIII / CHAPTER IX / CHAPTER X / CHAPTER XI; lines 3200-3291 | medium | A self-described Sufi says practice is no longer necessary; an Ismailian invokes an infallible Imam; a philosopher-like speaker treats inspiration as sagacity and science as his guide. | record |
| Sufi | Mystics and Saints of Islam | THE CLAY OF WHICH MAN IS MADE. / THE DEAD CRIMINAL. / ANECDOTE OF BAYAZID BASTAMI. / CHAPTER XIII; lines 3857-3955 | medium | Older pantheistic mystics left few writings because heretical books were suppressed; open dissent endangered life; Persian Sufis veiled views in technical language unintelligible to the uninitiated. | record |
| Sufi | Mystics and Saints of Islam | CHAPTER XIV / JALALUDDIN RUMI / CHAPTER XV / CHAPTER XVI; lines 5258-5302 | medium | The passage states that Divine Unity is clearly expressed in those books; Dara-Shikoh seeks proofs of the Supreme Being's unity and orders the Upanishads, described as a treasure of Unitarianism, translated into Persian literally and impartially to reveal mysteries concealed from Moslems. | record |
| Sufi | The Mystics of Islam | CHAPTER V / SAINTS AND MIRACLES / CHAPTER VI / THE UNITIVE STATE; lines 3596-3711 | medium | Three defenses of Hallāj are listed: he disclosed a secret reserved for the elect, spoke under ecstatic intoxication, or meant that divine unity includes all being. | record |
| Sufi | The Mystics of Islam | THE MYSTICS OF ISLAM / INTRODUCTION / I. CHRISTIANITY / II. NEOPLATONISM; lines 415-514 | medium | The mystery of the Great Name is communicated to Ibrāhīm ibn Adham by a man met in the desert; when he pronounces it, he sees Khadir. | record |
| Sufi | The Mystics of Islam | CHAPTER VI / THE UNITIVE STATE / BIBLIOGRAPHY / INDEX; lines 5021-5104 | low | The contents list for Quests Old and New includes topics such as the way of the spirit in ancient China, Buddhist spirituality, reincarnation, early Christendom, gnosis, hidden mysteries, Bergson, and Eucken. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | ALCMAEON AND THE NECKLACE. / THE HERACLIDAE. / THE SIEGE OF TROY. / RETURN OF THE GREEKS FROM TROY.; lines 10201-10297 | medium | Circe has warned Odysseus not to listen to the Sirens. To protect the crew, he fills their ears with wax; to hear the song himself, he has his companions lash him to the mast and orders them not to release him. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | FORTUNA. / ANANKE (NECESSITAS). / MOMUS. / EROS (CUPID, AMOR) AND PSYCHE.; lines 4825-4914 | high | Eros dwells there and courts Psyche unseen, warning her not to behold him; her sisters visit, envy her, claim her lover is a monster, and give her a dagger. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | FORTUNA. / ANANKE (NECESSITAS). / MOMUS. / EROS (CUPID, AMOR) AND PSYCHE.; lines 4917-4962 | high | A voice warns Psyche of dangers and instructs her to provide Charon's toll and a cake for Cerberus, avoid the banquets of Aides and Persephone, and bring the box unopened to Aphrodite for a safe return. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | GANYMEDES. / THE MUSES. / PEGASUS. / THE HESPERIDES.; lines 5189-5203 | medium | Because the Hesperides taste the golden fruit entrusted to their care, they are deprived of their office, and the terrible dragon Ladon becomes the ever-watchful sentinel of the treasures. | record |
| Greek/Roman | Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome | SATURN. / RHEA (OPS). / DIVISION OF THE WORLD. / THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF MAN.; lines 832-898 | medium | Epimetheus possesses a forbidden jar of blessings; Pandora opens it, the blessings fly away, and Hope remains when she closes the lid. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXIII: THE GIANTS / CHAPTER XXIV: THE DWARFS / CHAPTER XXV: THE ELVES / CHAPTER XXVI: THE SIGURD SAGA; lines 10331-10442 | low | Because Sigurd has the Helmet of Dread and Grimhild has given Gunnar a potion, Sigurd and Gunnar exchange forms; Sigurd in Gunnar's likeness rides Greyfell through the flames to Brunhild's castle, and neither recognizes the other. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XII: FORSETI / CHAPTER XIII: HEIMDALL / CHAPTER XIV: HERMOD / CHAPTER XV: VIDAR; lines 5896-6019 | medium | Vidar says nothing, returns to Landvidi, sits on his throne, and ponders eternity, futurity, and infinity; the passage says his silence shows no one knows what awaits in the life to come. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XIII: HEIMDALL / CHAPTER XIV: HERMOD / CHAPTER XV: VIDAR / CHAPTER XVI: VALI; lines 6022-6149 | medium | After the third insult, Odin draws a magic rune stick from his breast, points it at Rinda, and utters a spell that makes her rigid and apparently lifeless. | record |
| Norse | Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas | CHAPTER XXI: BALDER / CHAPTER XXII: LOKI / CHAPTER XXIII: THE GIANTS / CHAPTER XXIV: THE DWARFS; lines 8803-8940 | medium | Esbern cannot learn the builder's name despite watching, listening, thinking, and seeking elvish aid; Helva prays beside him, and he hears a troll-wife sing that Father Fine will return with a mortal's eyes and heart. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK X / AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. / BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88; lines 4876-4967 | medium | At Thrinacia Odysseus will find the Sun's sheep and cattle; if the flocks are left unharmed, he may reach Ithaca after hardship, but if they are harmed his ship and men will be destroyed. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88 / BOOK XII / THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.; lines 5320-5420 | medium | Circe warns that the Sirens enchant nearby sailors to death; bones lie around them. She tells Ulysses to plug the crew's ears with wax and, if he listens, to be bound to the mast and bound tighter if he begs release. | record |
| Greek | The Odyssey | BOOK XI / THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88 / BOOK XII / THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.; lines 5422-5511 | high | Ulysses tells the men Circe's prophecies, including the warning to avoid the Sirens who sing in a field of flowers; he says he alone may hear them and orders himself bound upright to the mast, tighter if he asks release. | record |
| Greek | Phaedrus | Phaedrus / PHAEDRUS / INTRODUCTION.; lines 804-884 | low | The philosopher, or philosopher and lover together, is described as a sort of madman and compared with the Republic and Theaetetus; the myth is said to describe figuratively things beyond human faculties or inaccessible to the age. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | GERTRUDE LOWTHIAN BELL / LONDON / WILLIAM HEINEMANN / INTRODUCTION; lines 1234-1273 | medium | “Who knows the secret of the veil?” and a trust in a “larger hope” conclude the passage's summary. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | LONDON / WILLIAM HEINEMANN / INTRODUCTION / FROM THE DIVAN OF HAFIZ; lines 1554-1689 | medium | “Who knows the Curtain’s secret?... Heaven is mute!” and the passage rebukes disputing with Him who holds the Curtain. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | XXVIII / XXXII / XXXIII / XXXIV; lines 2562-2634 | medium | The speaker recalls Father Adam going astray through temptation by one grain of corn and describes Truth being hard to hear amid many creeds and the voice of Fable. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | XXIII / XXVIII / XXXIII / XXXIV; lines 3781-3859 | medium | A note on the forbidden fruit says Muslims and Christians differ, and some identify it as wheat, some as fig-tree, and others as vine. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | XXXIV / XXXVI / XXXVII / XXXIX; lines 3892-3989 | high | God hears angels marvel at human wickedness, sends Harut and Marut to earth as judges, and teaches them a secret word enabling nightly return to heaven. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | XXXIV / XXXVI / XXXVII / XXXIX; lines 3892-3989 | medium | Harut and Marut are refused entry to heaven, choose punishment in this world through an intercessor, suffer in Babel, and may teach magic there; Mahommad is said to curse Zohra when viewing Venus. | record |
| Sufi | Poems from the Divan of Hafiz | XXXVII / XXXIX / XLIII / THE END; lines 3991-4129 | medium | Hallaj is described as a ninth-century figure, viewed by some as sorcerer and by others as holy miracle-worker; he is condemned by the Khalif of Baghdad in 919, his ashes thrown into the Tigris, and God answers that revealers of secrets are punished. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXII. Lakshman Calmed. / Canto XXVIII. The Dangers Of The Wood. / Canto XXX. The Triumph Of Love. / Canto XXXII. The Gift Of The Treasures.; lines 15268-15433 | high | A tale is introduced: a bounteous saint gave Kaikeyí's father knowledge of the languages of creatures; one morning he heard a bird and laughed. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XXXVII. The Gathering. / Canto XL. The Army Of The East. / Canto XLI. The Army Of The South. / Canto XLII. The Army Of The West.; lines 42922-43030 | low | Pariyatra rises with a golden peak, inhabited by wild Gandharvas; the Vanars are warned not to pluck fruit guarded there but to continue searching for Janak’s daughter. | record |
| Hindu | The Ramayan of Valmiki | Canto XLIV. The Ring. / Canto XLV. The Departure. / Canto XLVII. The Return. / Canto L. The Enchanted Cave.; lines 43443-43565 | low | The woman answers that Maya, chief artificer of the Danavas and famed for enchantments, framed the magic wood of growing gold and the glorious dwelling. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | THE REPUBLIC. / PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE. / BOOK I. / BOOK II.; lines 11286-11457 | high | The passage names Hesiod's stories of Uranus, Cronus, and the suffering Cronus's son inflicted on him, and says such stories should be silenced or restricted to a chosen few in a mystery with an extraordinary victim rather than a common Eleusinian pig. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 1336-1415 | medium | Homer and Hesiod are criticized for improper divine stories about Uranus and Saturn, Zeus, Hephaestus, divine strife, and family violence; such stories may have mystical interpretation but youth cannot understand allegory. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | BOOK IV. / BOOK V. / BOOK VI. / BOOK VII.; lines 19998-20152 | medium | The speaker says "great caution is required" because students of dialectic are "filled with lawlessness." | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 4013-4089 | medium | The passage warns from present experience that dialectic may be a source of many evils. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 4687-4772 | low | The first decline is obscure; Plato is said to veil its origin in mystery and attribute it to ignorance of the law of population, expressed by a famous geometrical figure or number. | record |
| Greek | The Republic | The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 7148-7231 | low | The passage urges reticence and self-restraint in counsel, warning against premature disclosure, undue power, and demanding confession of evil. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufism of the Rubáiyát, or, the Secret of the Great Paradox | The Sufism of the Rubáiyát, or, the Secret of the Great Paradox / PREFACE / THE AUTHOR. / NOTES; lines 1301-1463 | medium | A serpent is placed in the garden; a man tastes from the hand of a woman; the passage says this is not earthly woman or earthly fruit, but experience wrung from life and handed down from birth to birth; God joins the two in one. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufism of the Rubáiyát, or, the Secret of the Great Paradox | The Sufism of the Rubáiyát, or, the Secret of the Great Paradox / PREFACE / THE AUTHOR. / NOTES; lines 712-872 | medium | Heavenly signs are described as symbols of a book with eternal characters, open pages in heaven's blue, and the veil, lamp, and voice within; the addressee is told to become lord, master, prophet, priest, and king. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM / MONSIEUR J.B. NICOLAS / THE QUATRAINS OF KHAYYAM / THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 11539-11731 | high | No one has access to God's secrets behind the mysterious curtain; no one can penetrate there, and the earthly mind is the only dwelling. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | XXXI. / XXXII. / XXXIII. / XXXIV.; lines 1227-1248 | medium | The speaker finds a door with no key, a veil beyond sight, and a brief appearance of talk of “ME and THEE” that ends with no more “THEE and ME.” | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM / MONSIEUR J.B. NICOLAS / THE QUATRAINS OF KHAYYAM / THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 12518-12709 | medium | No one has penetrated the secrets of the Principle or First Cause, no one has stepped outside himself, and insufficiency is seen from pupil to master and in all born of the mother. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM / MONSIEUR J.B. NICOLAS / THE QUATRAINS OF KHAYYAM / THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 12711-12911 | medium | No one has access behind the curtain of destiny or knowledge of Providence's secrets; after seventy-two years of reflection, the enigma remains unexplained. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | LIII. / LVII. / LVIII. / KUZA-NAMA; lines 1427-1469 | medium | The addressed figure is said to have made Man from baser Earth and devised Eden and the Snake; the speaker asks for Man’s forgiveness for sin. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | XXXVII. / XLII. / XLIII. / XLIV.; lines 3143-3223 | medium | A person will be separated from the soul and pass behind the curtain or veil of the Secrets of God. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | VARIATIONS / OMAR KHAYYAM / STANZA / STANZA; lines 4710-4767 | low | “There was the Veil through which I could not see.” | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM / TRANSLATED BY / E.H. WHINFIELD, M.A. / INTRODUCTION; lines 5367-5438 | medium | Omar's complaints are connected with persecution over his opinions; remarks on Houris and sacred subjects created hostility and at one point endangered his life in Naishapur. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | E.H. WHINFIELD, M.A. / INTRODUCTION / E.H. WHINFIELD / QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 6033-6256 | high | Mortal ken is bounded by a veil; earth's dark bosom is man's only home. | record |
| Sufi | The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam | E.H. WHINFIELD, M.A. / INTRODUCTION / E.H. WHINFIELD / QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM; lines 6258-6483 | medium | The speaker says one must soon quit life below, pass the veil, and know Allah's secrets, and urges pleasure because one does not know whence one comes or whither one goes. | record |
| Indigenous Australian | Australian Legendary Tales: folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies | Bootoolgah the Crane and Goonur the Kangaroo Rat, the Fire Makers | medium | Bootoolgah and Goonur discover fire-making, hide their firesticks, cook secretly, and Beeargah eventually takes a firestick and spreads fire while escaping. | record |