Bekhorot

— Does [Scripture] write: ‘From among all the beasts and from among all the cattle’?1 It writes [in the following order:] from among all the cattle and from among all the beasts. [The serpent] is cursed from among all the animals which are cursed [in that it takes longer to produce their young] than the beasts. But why not say: Just as the animal has been cursed [to go with young longer] than the beast in the proportion of one to three — and what is this? A goat [which goes with young longer] than a cat — so the serpent has been cursed in the proportion of one to three, which is fifteen months?2 — If you choose, I may reply that Scripture writes: ‘From among all cattle’.3 Or if you prefer [still another solution], it is a curse [which it is the object of the verse to inflict] and therefore we cast the [heaviest] curses possible [on the serpent].4 The Emperor once asked R. Joshua b. Hanania: ‘How long is the period of gestation and birth of a serpent’? — He replied to him: ‘Seven years’. ‘But did not the Sages of the Athenian school couple’ [a male serpent with a female] and they gave birth in three years’? — ‘Those had already been pregnant for four years’. ‘But did they not have sexual contact’?5 — ‘Serpents have sexual intercourse in the same manner as human beings’.6 ‘But are not [the sages of Athens] wise men [and surely they must have ascertained the true facts about the serpent]’? ‘We are wiser than they’. ‘If you are wise’ said the Emperor, ‘go and defeat them [in argument], and bring them to me’. He asked him: ‘How many [are the Athenian sages]’? ‘Sixty persons’. Thereupon he said to him: ‘Make me a ship containing sixty compartments, each compartment containing sixty cushions’.7 He did this for him. When [R. Joshua] reached [their city], he went up to a slaughter-house. He found a certain man who was dressing an animal. He asked him: ‘Is thy head for sale’? The other replied ‘Yes’. Thereupon he asked him: ‘For how much’? And the man answered: ‘For a half a zuz’. He gave him [the money]. Eventually, he said to him: ‘Give me thy head’. [He gave him an animal's head]. Thereupon [R. Joshua] exclaimed: ‘Did I say the head of an animal? [I told thee, thy head’]. [R. Joshua] then said to him: ‘If you wish that I should leave thee alone, step in front of me and show me the door of the school of the Athenian sages’. Thereupon the man replied: ‘I am afraid, for whoever points them out, they put to death’. R. Joshua then said: ‘Take a bundle of reeds, and if you reach the spot, throw it down as if to rest’.8 He went and found guards inside and guards outside the school; for when the [wise men] saw somebody enter, they used to kill the outside guards, and when they saw someone leaving, they killed the inside guards.9 He reversed [the heel] of his shoe and they killed the inside guards. He then reversed the shoe [to its normal position] and they killed all of them.10 He proceeded and found the young men sitting high up [in the upper chamber] and the elders below. He said: ‘If l give greetings [to the elders], then [the young men] will kill me, the latter claiming "we are more important", [for we sit high up and they sit below]. [And if I give greetings to the young men, then the elders will kill me], the latter claiming "we are older and they are just youngsters"’. [R. Joshua] then said: ‘Peace to you’. They asked him: ‘What are you doing here’? He replied to them: ‘I am a sage of the Jews, I wish to learn wisdom from you’. ‘If so, we will ask you questions’ [said the Athenian wise men]. He answered them: ‘Very well. If you defeat me, then whatever you wish, do Unto me, but if l defeat you, eat bread with me in the ship’. They said to him: If a person wished to marry a woman and the consent was not given, is it feasible that he should seek a woman of higher birth?11 He took a peg and stuck it below [on the stone wall]12 and it would not join, and then he stuck it higher up,13 and it went in. He said: ‘Here also therefore, it- may happen that the second woman is his destined one’. ‘If a man lends money and is compelled to seize his debt by force, is it to be expected that he should lend again’?14 He replied to them: ‘A man goes into a forest, cuts the first load of wood and cannot [lift it].15 He continues cutting, until somebody comes along and helps him to lift the bundle’.16 They said to him: ‘Tell us some stories’. He said to them: ‘There was a mule which gave birth, and round its neck was a document in which was written, "there is a claim against my father's house of [one hundred]17 thousand zuz"’. They asked him: ‘Can a mule give birth’? He answered them: ‘This is one of these stories’. ‘When salt becomes unsavory, wherewith is it salted’? He replied: ‘With the after-birth of a mule’. ‘And is there an after-birth of a mule’? ‘And can salt become unsavory’? ‘Build as a house in the sky’. He pronounced the Name [of the Deity], [suspended himself in the air] and hung between heaven and earth. He then said to them: ‘Bring me up bricks and clay from down there’. [They asked: ‘And is it possible to do this’? He replied: ‘And is it possible to build a house between heaven and earth’].18 ‘Where is the centre of the world’? He raised his fingers and said to them: ‘Here’. They said to him: ‘How can you prove it’? He replied: ‘Bring ropes and measure’. They said: ‘We have a pit in the field. Bring it to the town’. He replied: ‘Knot ropes of bran flour for me and I will bring it in’.19 ‘We have a broken millstone. Mend it’. [He took a detached portion from it and threw it before them]18 saying: ‘Take out the threads for me, like a weaver, and I shall mend it’. ‘A bed of knives, wherewith can we cut it’? ‘With the horns of an ass’. They asked: ‘But has an ass horns’? ‘And is there a bed of knives’? [He replied:] They brought him two eggs. ‘Which is from the black clucking hen and which is from the white’? He himself brought them two cheeses and asked them: ‘Which is from a black goat and which from a white’? ‘A chicken dead in its shell-where has the spirit gone’? ‘From whence it came, thither it went’. ‘Show us an article whose value is not worth the loss it causes’. He brought a mat of reeds and spread it out. It could not get through the door [being too long and wide]. He then said: ‘Bring a rake [and pickaxe]’, and demolished [the door of the building].20 ‘That is an example of an article whose value is not worth the loss it causes’. He brought them to eat in the ship, one by one to his Separate chamber. When they saw the sixty cushions, each one thought that all the companions would come to this chamber. He ordered the captain to set sail. As they were about to journey, he took some earth from their [native] soil. proportion as the beast is more cursed than the animal. to the former In the proportion of one to three. constituting a ratio of one to seven, as stated above. serpent. The outside guards were put to death when a footstep was visible indicating that someone had entered, for which they were held responsible. On the other hand, when a footstep was visible indicating that someone had left, the inside guards were held responsible and put to death. The guards did not, however, put anybody to death unless he made a forced entry or an exit. been two persons, one leaving and the other entering, and consequently all the guards were punished and put to death. This, of course, made it easy for R. Joshua to gain entrance unmolested. woman coming from a better family? to lend in future, for fear of meeting similar difficulties in the recovery of his money.