Study Bava Metzia folio 117A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
כשהוא דר, לבדו הוא דר כדמעיקרא, או דלמא שניהם דרין, דאמר ליה: אדעתא לאפקינן לא אגרי לך.
With regard to a resident of the upper story who is entitled to move into the lower story, when he resides there, does he reside alone as he did at the outset when he occupied the upper story, and the owner of the house has no choice but to move out? Or perhaps they both reside there together, as the owner can say to him: I did not rent the upper story to you with the intention of being removed from my domicile.
אם תמצא לומר שניהם דרין בו, כשהוא משתמש – דרך פתחים משתמש, או דרך גגין משתמש? מי אמר כדמעיקרא: מה מעיקרא, דרך גגין – השתא נמי דרך גגין. או דלמא מצי אמר ליה: עלייה – קבילי עלאי, עלייה וירידה – לא קבילי עלאי.
If you say that they both reside there, when the upper-story resident uses the house, does he use it by way of its entrances, like the owner, or must he use it by way of the roofs? Must he climb the stairs and enter the upper story, and then descend to the house from there? Can the owner say: The tenant must act as he did at the outset; just as at the outset he entered by way of the roofs, now too, he must enter by way of the roofs? Or perhaps the renter can say to him: I accepted upon myself an ascent and agreed to climb the stairs to the upper story, but I did not accept upon myself an ascent and a descent, which would be necessary if I entered by way of the roofs.
אם תמצא לומר, מצי אמר ליה: עלייה וירידה לא קבילי עלאי. שתי עליות זו על גב זו, מהו? איפחית עליונה, נחית ודר בתחתונה. איפחית תחתונה, מהו למיסלק לגמרי בעליונה?
If you say that the tenant can say to the owner: I did not accept upon myself an ascent and a descent, in a case where there were two upper stories, this one on top of that one, what is the halakha? The Talmud clarifies the circumstances of this case: If the floor of the higher upper story was broken, clearly he may descend and reside in the lower one, but if the floor of the lower upper story was broken, what is the halakha? Is he required to ascend the full way and reside in the higher upper story, or does he go down to reside on the ground floor?