Commentary for Bava Kamma 2:4
אֵיזֶה הוּא תָם, וְאֵיזֶה הוּא מוּעָד. מוּעָד, כֹּל שֶׁהֵעִידוּ בוֹ שְׁלשָׁה יָמִים. וְתָם, מִשֶּׁיַּחֲזֹר בּוֹ שְׁלשָׁה יָמִים, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, מוּעָד, שֶׁהֵעִידוּ בוֹ שָׁלשׁ פְּעָמִים. וְתָם, כֹּל שֶׁיְּהוּ הַתִּינוֹקוֹת מְמַשְׁמְשִׁין בּוֹ וְאֵינוֹ נוֹגֵחַ:
Which is a tam, and which is a muad? A muad — an (ox) which was testified against (as having gored) three days. And a tam? Desisting three days [i.e., If it sees oxen and does not gore them, it reverts to its state of tam.] These are the words of R. Yehudah. R. Meir says: A muad — (an ox) which was testified against three times, [even in one day. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Meir, it not being a muad until it is testified against (as having gored) three days.] And a tam — any (ox) which the children fondle, [i.e., which they pull and play with] without its butting. [And in this the halachah is in accordance with R. Meir, that an ox which is a muad does not revert to its state of tam until the children fondle it.]
Rambam on Mishnah Bava Kamma
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Kamma
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Kamma
Rabbi Meir says, An attested danger is one that people have given testimony about three times. A harmless one is one that children can touch and it will not gore.
We have several times already discussed the two types of danger: a muad which is an attested danger and a tam, which is harmless, meaning something that is not expected to cause damages. However, we have mostly discussed the different consequences of being a muad or being a tam. The owner of a muad that causes damage will pay full damages from the best of his land while the owner of a tam that damages will only pay half damages which cannot exceed the value of the damaging animal (see Mishnah 1:4). This mishnah discusses how an animal can move from the status of a tam to the status of a muad and vice versa, how an animal that is muad can revert to the status of tam.
In this mishnah we see a dispute between Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah, two of the most prevalent Rabbis in the Mishnah. According to Rabbi Judah in order for a tam animal to become muad people must testify against the animal on three different days. However, according to Rabbi Meir it is enough that people testify against the animal three times on one day for it to become a muad.
Similarly the Rabbis dispute how a muad would revert to being a tam. According to Rabbi Judah all it would need is three days, in which it had the opportunity to gore and yet it didn’t do so. However, according to Rabbi Meir it needs to be harmless enough for children to touch. Otherwise it remains a muad.