Study Bava Metzia folio 9B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ואי רשות הרבים הוא – קני, ואי אדם חשוב הוא – קני, ואי אשה היא – קניא, ואי איניש זילא הוא – קני.
And if he rides it in the public domain, he acquires it, as people commonly ride animals in the city’s public domain. And if he is an important person, who always rides his animal rather than leading it, he acquires it even in an alleyway. And if the buyer is a woman, she acquires the animal, as women do not normally lead animals. And if the buyer is a detestable person, who rides even where other people do not, he too acquires the animal.
בעי רבי אלעזר: האומר לחבירו ״משוך בהמה זו לקנות כלים שעליה״, מהו?
§ R' Elazar raises a dilemma: With regard to one who says to another, to whom he wishes to sell vessels: Pull this animal in order to acquire the vessels that are upon it, what is the halakha? Can the buyer acquire the vessels by pulling the animal?
לקנות: מי אמר ליה קני! אלא: ״משוך בהמה זו וקני כלים שעליה״, מהו? מי מהניא משיכה דבהמה לאקנויי כלים, או לא?
Before discussing the dilemma, the Talmud clarifies the issue. If the vendor merely says: In order that you will acquire the vessels, how can the buyer acquire them? Did he say to him in the imperative: Acquire the vessels? Without the seller’s explicitly instructing the buyer to acquire the vessels, the buyer cannot acquire them. Rather, R' Elazar’s dilemma is with regard to a case where the seller says to the buyer: Pull this animal and thereby acquire the vessels that are upon it. What is the halakha? Is pulling the animal effective in order to acquire the vessels upon it, or not?
אמר רבא: אי אמר ליה קני בהמה וקני כלים – מי קני כלים? חצר מהלכת היא, וחצר מהלכת לא קנה.
Rava said: It is clearly not effective, as even if he said to him: Acquire the animal and acquire the vessels, does the buyer acquire the vessels? Although one can acquire an item by having it placed in his courtyard, and one’s animal is the equivalent of his courtyard, it is considered a mobile courtyard, and a mobile courtyard does not effect acquisition of items that are placed in it.