Bava Batra 53

בית סאה בשבילן כמה הוו להו תרי אלפי וה' מאה גרמידי לכל חד כמה מטי ליה תמני מאה ותלתין ותלתא ותילתא אכתי נפישי ליה דעולא לא דק

beth <i>se'ah</i> may be ploughed in virtue of them.' What is the total area of the field? — Two thousand five hundred cubits. How much is that for each tree? — Eight hundred and thirty-three and a third. 'Ulla still claims more for his tree!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 1024 cubits (reckoning 32 square). ');">¹</span>

אימור דאמרינן לא דק לחומרא לקולא לא דק מי אמרינן

— [We must suppose that] 'Ulla did not give an exact figure. [Is that so?] We may presume that an authority does not give an exact figure where by so doing he makes the law more stringent. But can I say that he does so where he makes the law less stringent?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As 'Ulla does, by exempting from the obligation of first fruits a tree which is really liable to it. ');">²</span>

מי סברת בריבועא קא אמרינן בעיגולא קא אמרינן

— You are assuming that 'Ulla was thinking of a square. In reality he was thinking of a circle. Let us see. The area of a square exceeds that of the [inscribed] circle by a quarter. Hence there remains for [the circle from which 'Ulla's tree sucks] seven hundred and sixty-eight cubits.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' = three quarters of 1024. ');">³</span>

מכדי כמה מרובע יותר על העיגול רביע פשו להו ז' מאה ושתין ותמניא אכתי פש ליה פלגא דאמתא היינו דלא דק ולחומרא לא דק

But the space allowed [by the Mishnah] is still half a cubit more [in length]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The area of the circle allowed by the Mishnah for each tree is 833 1/3 cubits. The square in which this is inscribed would (according to the reckoning of the Talmud) have an area of 1111 1/9 cubits. The side of such a square would he 33.3 cubits. Hence the radius of the area from which the tree sucks would be practically 16 2/3 cubits. (Rabbenu Tam proposed to read here 'two-thirds' instead of 'one-half'.) ');">⁴</span>

תא שמע הקונה אילן וקרקעו מביא וקורא מאי לאו כל שהוא לא י"ו אמה

— That is where 'Ulla was not exact, and he thereby made the law more stringent. Come and hear: 'If a man buys a tree and the soil around, he brings first-fruits from it and makes the declaration.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Deut. XXVI. 3ff. ');">⁵</span>

תא שמע קנה שני אילנות בתוך של חבירו מביא ואינו קורא הא שלשה מביא וקורא מאי לאו כל שהוא לא הכא נמי י"ו אמה

['Soil' means any quantity,] does it not, however small?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which would show that a tree sucks only from a very narrow space. ');">⁶</span>

תא שמע ר"ע אומר קרקע כל שהוא חייב בפאה ובבכורים וכותבין עליו פרוזבול

— No: it must be sixteen cubits. Come and hear: If a man buys two trees in another man's field, he brings first-fruits from them but does not make the declaration. [We infer] from this that if he buys three he does make the declaration. And any quantity of soil is sufficient, is it not?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The rule is that if a man buys three trees in a field he acquires the soil under them unless the contrary is specified. V. infra 81a. ');">⁷</span> — No; here too it must be sixteen cubits. Come and hear: R. Akiba says: 'The smallest piece of landed property is subject to the rule of the corner<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] V. Lev. XIX, 9. ');">⁸</span> and first-fruits. and a <i>prosbul</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos. ');">⁹</span>