Bava Metzia 218

וספר מתא כולן כמותרין ועומדין דמי כללא דמילתא כל פסידא דלא הדר כמותרין ועומדין דמי

and the town scribe,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Or 'barber', v. B.B. (Sonc. ed.) p. 106, n. 7.] ');">¹</span> are all regarded as being permanently warned.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of dismissal, should their work be unsatisfactory. ');">²</span>

ההוא שתלא דאמר להו הבו לי שבחאי דבעינא למיסק לארעא דישראל אתא לקמיה דרב פפא בר שמואל אמר להו הבו ליה שבחיה א"ל רבא איהו אשבח ארעא לא אשבח א"ל אנא פלגא דשבחא קאמינא לך א"ל עד האידנא הוה שקיל בעל הבית פלגא ושתלא פלגא השתא בעי למיתב מנתא לאריסא א"ל ריבעא דשבחא קאמינא

The general principle is this: for every loss that is irrecoverable, [the workers] are regarded as being permanently warned. A certain gardener said, 'Give me my improvements, as I wish to emigrate to Palestine.' When he came before R. Papa b. Samuel he ordered: 'Give him the improvements'.But Raba protested: 'Has only he effected the increased value, and not the soil?'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Surely the owner of the soil is entitled to at least half. ');">³</span>

סבר רב אשי למימר ריבעא דהוא דנקא דאמר רב מניומי בריה דרב נחומי באתרא דשקיל שתלא פלגא ואריסא תילתא האי שתלא דבעי לאסתלוקי יהבינן ליה שבחא ומסלקינן ליה כי היכי דלא נמטייה הפסד לבעל הבית

He replied, 'I meant half thereof.' 'But,' he protested, 'hitherto the owner took half and the gardener half; whereas now he must give a share to an <i>aris</i>!'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The gardener having left the work unfinished, an aris (v. Glos.) must be engaged, who will also demand his share, and so the owner loses thereby. ');">⁴</span> He replied, 'I meant a quarter of the improvement.' Now R. Ashi thought this to mean a quarter [of the residue],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' After allowing for the share of the aris, v. n. 9. ');">⁵</span>

אי אמרת בשלמא ריבעא דהוא דנקא שפיר אלא אי אמרת ריבעא ממש קא מטי ליה פסידא לבעל הבית פלגא דנקא

which is a sixth [of the whole]. For R. Minyomi, the son of R. Nehumi, said: Where it is the practice for a gardener to receive half profits and an <i>aris</i> one third,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A gardener plants the vineyard, whereas an aris comes to a vineyard already in existence, hence he receives a smaller portion. ');">⁶</span> and a gardener wishes to quit, he is given [his share of the] profits and dismissed, [a share being computed in such a way] that the employer sustains no loss [through having to engage an arts]. Now, should you assume that he meant a quarter [of the residue after paying the <i>aris</i> his share], which is a sixth of the whole, it is well; but if you say that it means a literal quarter, the employer loses a twelfth!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., if the profits are six denarii, the gardener and the employer would each have received three. But now an aris must be engaged, who receives a third of the net profits, i.e., two denarii. Hence, if the gardener receives a quarter of the whole, i.e., 1 1/2 denarii, the employer is left with 2 1/2, a twelfth of the whole less than his due; but if he is allotted only a quarter of the residue, i.e., of 7 denarii, the employer is still left with his full share. ');">⁷</span>

א"ל רב אחא בריה דרב יוסף לרב אשי ולימא ליה אנת מנתא דילך הב ליה לאריסא ואנא מנתא דילי מאי דבעינא עבידנא ביה אמר כי מטית לשחיטת קדשים תא ואקשי לי

R. Aha, the son of R. Joseph, said to R. Ashi: But cannot he [the gardener] say to him, 'Do entrust your own portion to the <i>aris</i>; whilst as for me, I can do what I wish with my own share'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Even if the gardener should receive a quarter, not a sixth, the employer stands to lose nothing, for the gardener can tell him to entrust the remaining three quarters to an aris, who will receive a third of it for his labour, and a half of the whole will still be left for the owner. Thus: 1/3 x 3/4 x 6 = 1 1/2 (share of the aris); 3/4 x 6 - 1 1/2 = 3, half of the whole (share of the employer).] ');">⁸</span> — He replied: When you arrive at 'The slaughter of consecrated animals,' come and place your difficulties before me.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'The slaughter of consecrated animals' is in the name of a tractate of the Talmud, now called 'Sacrifices' ([H]), of great subtlety. I.e., 'I see from the question that you have a keen subtle mind — it will be particularly interesting to hear your comments on that Tractate.' Rashi gives two views on this remark. One, that he accepted its reasoning, and complimented him thereon; another, that he merely evaded it by a sarcastic reference to its oversubtlety. ');">⁹</span>

גופא אמר רב מניומי בריה דרב נחומי באתרא דשקיל שתלא פלגא ואריסא תילתא האי שתלא דבעי איסתלוקי יהבינן ליה שבחיה ומסלקינן ליה כי היכי דלא ליפסוד בעל הבית אמר רב מניומי בריה דרב נחומי קופא סבא פלגא שטפה נהרא ריבעא

The [above] text states: 'R. Minyomi, son of R. Nehumi said: Where it is the practice for a gardener to receive half profits and an arts one third, and a gardener wishes to quit, he is given [his share of] the profits and then dismissed, [a share being computed in such a way] that the employer sustains no loss.' R. Minyomi, son of R. Nehumi [also] said: Of an old [vine] trunk [the gardener receives] half;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When it no longer bears fruit and is cut down for its wood. ');">¹⁰</span> but if the river inundated it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Either uprooting it entirely, or waterlogging the soil and making the vine unfit for fruit, at least for a long time, ');">¹¹</span>

ההוא גברא דמשכין פרדיסא לחבריה לעשר שנין וקש לחמש שנין אביי אמר פירא הוי רבא אמר קרנא הוי וילקח בו קרקע והוא אוכל פירות

he receives a quarter.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As a gardener who wishes to quit in the middle. In the first instance, the ageing of a vine is natural, and therefore it is tacitly understood that when no longer fruit-bearing it shall be treated as the rest. But an inundation is unnatural; hence it is considered as though the gardener had suddenly quitted it, ');">¹²</span> A certain man pledged a vineyard with his fellow for ten years,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On a time mortgage. V. supra p. 394. ');">¹³</span>

מיתיבי יבש האילן או נקצץ שניהם אסורים בו כיצד יעשו ימכרו לעצים וילקח בהן קרקע והוא אוכל פירות מאי לאו יבש דומיא דנקצץ מה נקצץ בזמנו אף יבש בזמנו וקתני ילקח בהן קרקע והוא אוכל פירות אלמא קרנא הוי

but it aged after five.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And was unable to produce. This was when it was expected to age. ');">¹⁴</span> Abaye said: They [the aged trunks] rank as produce;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Therefore they belong to the mortgagee. ');">¹⁵</span>

לא נקצץ דומיא דיבש מה יבש בלא זמנו אף נקצץ בלא זמנו

Raba ruled: As principal; therefore land must be bought therewith, of which he [the mortagee] enjoys the usufruct. An objection is raised: If the tree withered or was cut down, both are forbidden to use it. What then shall be done? It must be sold for timber, land bought with the proceeds, and he [the mortgagee] takes the usufruct.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 79a. ');">¹⁶</span>

ת"ש נפלו לה גפנים וזיתים זקנים

Surely 'withered' is similar to 'cut down': just as the latter means, in its due time, so the former too; and yet it is taught, 'It must be sold for timber, land bought with the proceeds, and he [the mortagee] takes the usufruct': thus proving that it ranks as principal? — No; 'cut down' is similar to 'withered:'just as the latter [implies] before its time,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the ordinary withering due to age is expressed by 'aged', though that too may imply untimely withering, but 'withered' can only mean prematurely, Tosaf. ');">¹⁷</span> so the former too. Come and hear: If aged vines and olive trees fell to her [as an inheritance],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The reference is to a married woman, of whose inheritance the husband enjoys the usufruct, v. Keth. 79b. ');">¹⁸</span>