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Text Excerpt
שסופה להצטער תחת בעלה. אמרו לו: אינו דומה נבעלת באונס לנבעלת ברצון. אלא אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: צער של פיסוק הרגלים. וכן הוא אומר: ״ותפשקי את רגליך לכל עובר״.
that she will ultimately suffer the same pain during sex when under the authority of her husband? They said to him: One who has sex against her will is not comparable to one who has sex willingly. Apparently, the pain associated with rape is a direct result of the forced sex and not of some associated cause. Rather, Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: It refers to the pain of spreading her legs during sex. And likewise, the verse says: “And you opened your legs to every passerby” (Ezekiel 16:25).
אי הכי, מפותה נמי! אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: משל דמפותה למה הדבר דומה? לאדם שאמר לחבירו: קרע שיראין שלי והפטר. שלי?! דאבוה נינהו? אלא אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: פקחות שבהן אומרות: מפותה אין לה צער.
The Talmud asks: If so, a seduced woman should also be obligated to make that payment as well. Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh stated a parable: To what can this matter of a seducer be compared? It can be compared to a person who said to another: Tear my silk and be exempt from payment. Since she had sex of her own volition, she certainly absolved him of payment for the pain. The Talmud asks: Tear my silk? It is not her silk, and therefore she may not waive payment for damage to it; it is the silk of her father, as the fine and the other payments are paid to him. Rather, Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said that the clever women among them say that a seduced woman has no pain during sex, as she is a willing participant.
והא קא חזינן דאית לה? אמר אביי: אמרה לי אם, כמיא חמימי על רישיה דקרחא. רבא אמר: אמרה לי בת רב חסדא: כי ריבדא דכוסילתא. רב פפא אמר: אמרה לי בת אבא סוראה: כי נהמא אקושא בחינכי.
The Talmud asks: But don’t we see that even a married woman has pain when she has sex for the first time? Abaye said: My foster mother told me that the pain is like hot water on the head of a bald man. Rava said: My wife, Rav Ḥisda’s daughter, told me that it is like the stab of a bloodletting knife. Rav Pappa said: My wife, Abba Sura’s daughter, told me that it is like the feeling of hard bread on the gums. When a woman has sex willingly, the pain is negligible. Therefore, the seducer is not obligated to pay for pain.