Commentary for Avodah Zarah 31:10
ת"ש דאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל של בית רבי היו מקריבין שור של פטם ביום אידם חסר ד' ריבבן שאין מקריבין אותו היום אלא למחר חסר ד' ריבבן שאין מקריבין אותו חי אלא שחוט חסר ד' ריבבן שאין מקריבין אותו כל עיקר
Come and hear: Rav Judah said in the name of Shmuel that the House of Rabbi had to present a fatted ox for their festival, and they paid a sum of forty thousand [coins] so that they would not have to offer on the day of the festival but the next day; then they paid another forty thousand so that they would not have to present it alive but slaughtered; then they paid another forty thousand to so that they would not have to present it at all.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
This source describes the House of Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] basically bribing the Roman authorities so that they would not have to give a fatted ox to be sacrificed. The second bribe they paid was to allow them to give them a dead ox, which obviously cannot be sacrificed. Now, since they already bribed the Romans that the ox should be presented the day after their festival, what does it matter whether the ox is dead or alive? The answer has to be that they were concerned lest they hold on to the fatted ox and use it for labor prohibited on Shabbat.
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