Bava Kamma 59B

הוה סיים מסאני אוכמי, וקאי בשוקא דנהרדעא. אשכחוה דבי ריש גלותא ואמרו ליה: מאי שנא הני מסאני? אמר להו: דקא מאבילנא אירושלים. אמרו ליה: את חשיבת לאיתאבולי אירושלים? סבור יוהרא הוה, אתיוה וחבשוה.

was wearing black shoes, unlike the Jewish custom of that time, and standing in the market of Neharde’a. Officials of the house of the Exilarch found him and said to him: What is different about you that causes you to wear these shoes? He said to them: I am wearing them because I am in mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, and so I wear black shoes, as is the custom of mourners. They said to him: Are you a man of such importance to publicly mourn over Jerusalem? They thought that it was simply presumptuousness on his part. Since he was acting against the prevalent Jewish custom, they brought him to the prison and incarcerated him.

אמר להו: גברא רבה אנא. אמרו ליה: מנא ידעינן? אמר להו: או אתון בעו מינאי מילתא, או אנא איבעי מינייכו מילתא. אמרו ליה: בעי את.

Eliezer Ze’eira said to them: I am a great man, a scholar, and it is fitting for me to mourn publicly over the destruction of Jerusalem. They said to him: How do we know that you are a scholar? He said to them: Either you ask of me a matter of halakha and I will answer you, or I will ask you a matter of halakha and you will answer me. They said to him: You ask.

אמר להו: האי מאן דקץ כופרא, מאי משלם? אמרו ליה: משלם דמי כופרא. והא הוו תמרי! אמרו ליה: משלם דמי תמרי. אמר להו: והא לאו תמרי שקל מיניה!

He said to them: With regard to one who cuts a cluster of flowers on the stem of a date palm belonging to another, what is he required to pay? They said to him: He pays the value of the date stem. He said to them: But ultimately they will become ripe dates, which are worth more. They said to him: If so, he pays the value of the future dates. He said to them: But he did not take ripe dates from the other person, so how can the court obligate him to pay for damage that he did not cause?