Qu'est-ce qu'une aveidah (un objet perdu)? [où il est évident que le propriétaire ne sait pas où il se trouve.] S'il a trouvé un âne ou une vache en train de paître sur la route, ce n'est pas une aveidah [et il n'est pas obligé de le rendre, il y a été laissé sciemment. ] (S'il a trouvé) un âne et son engrenage renversé, une vache courant entre les vignes, [blessant ainsi ses jambes], c'est une aveidah. S'il la rendait et qu'elle s'enfuyait; l'a rendu, et il s'est enfui— même quatre ou cinq fois —il doit continuer à le rendre, il est écrit (Deutéronome 22: 1): «Retournez-vous les rendre». [La Torah a ajouté de nombreux «retours».] S'il a perdu un sela (de temps de travail pour rendre l'avéida), il ne peut pas lui dire (au propriétaire): «Donnez-moi un sela», [car l'autre peut lui dire: "Si vous aviez fait votre propre travail, vous vous seriez exercé davantage. Prenez donc le montant de votre effort."], Mais il lui donne son salaire d'ouvrier inactif, [c'est-à-dire la réduction de salaire que l'on prendrait à être oisif de son travail régulier, plus difficile, afin de faire ce travail (de rendre l'aveidah)]. S'il y a un beth-din là-bas, il fait une condition avant beth-din. [S'il ne souhaite pas s'essouffler de son travail, son salaire étant élevé, que fait-il? S'il y a trois hommes là-bas (un beth-din), il fait une condition devant eux, à savoir: «Tu vois, je gagne ceci et ce montant. Je ne veux pas me perdre de mon travail et gagner moins. Si vous consentez à ce que je reçoive mon salaire régulier, je m'engagerai à rendre cette aveidah. »] S'il n'y a pas de Beth-Din là-bas, devant qui fera-t-il une condition? Sa (revendication) a la priorité [et il contourne l'aveidah].
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
What is considered a lost item. That it is apparent that the owner isn't aware that the item is there.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
What counts as lost property? If he found an ass or a cow grazing on the path, this does not count as lost property. But if he found an ass with its trappings turned over, or a cow running in the vineyards, this is lost property. An animal that is merely grazing without its owners nearby is not considered a lost animal. However, if its trappings, meaning the load that it was carrying or the saddle on its back, were overturned or somehow misplaced, chances are that it is a lost object. So too, if the cow was running in an inappropriate place, such as the vineyard, it is in all likelihood a lost cow.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
This is not a lost item. You are not obligated to return it, since it was intentionally placed there.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
If he returned it and it escaped again, and he returned it and it escaped again, even four or five times, he is obligated to return it [yet again], since it is stated (Deut. 22:1): “You shall surely return it to your brother”. A person is obligated to return his fellow’s lost object no matter how many times it runs away. This is learned from the verse in Deuteronomy. In the Hebrew verse there is a repetition of the word which means to return. Grammatically this is normal Biblical Hebrew. However, the Rabbis assumed that such repetitions contained additional legal information. In this case they learn that no matter how many times the animal may have been lost and found, one is still obligated to return it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Running between the vineyards. It's legs are being destructive.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
If [the finder] lost time at work that was worth a sela (an amount of, he may not say to the owner, “Give me a sela”. Rather the owner need only pay him the wages of an unemployed laborer. If there was a court of law in the that place the finder may stipulate before them [for damages for time lost]. If there was no court of law, before whom can he stipulate? His comes first. A person who has already found and returned another person’s lost object cannot claim all of the wages which he lost while busying himself with the lost object. Since the owner of the animal may not have wanted someone to return his animal if he would have to pay such a large sum of money, he is not obligated to pay. All that the finder can claim is the minimal wage that an unemployed laborer would accept to have some work to do for the day. However, if before he begins to deal with the lost animal the finder makes a stipulation in front of a court that if he should lose time at work while returning the animal that he would recover the loss, then the owner must pay him. (Ostensibly if the loss of work was greater than the worth of the animal the court would not have agreed to such a condition.) If there is no court in front of which to make such a stipulation, his own work takes precedent over the loss of others.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
You shall surely return them. The torah included [in this statement] many returnings.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Questions for Further Thought: • Mishnah nine, section one: Why might one consider an animal grazing on a path to be a lost animal? In other words, why might this law not be obvious? • Mishnah nine, section four: Why does his own work take precedence over the lost objects of others? Is this law just encouraging selfishness?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Don't say to him [the owner] give me a sela. Since this one [the owner] says to him [the finder] "If you had done your normal work, you would have been very burdened, now [that you instead took care of this item] take according to what you actually were burdened."
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Like an idle laborer. How much a person would be willing to reduce his wage to avoid this difficult work that he is doing and do this light work [taking care of the item].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
If there is a court there. If he doesn't want to be idle from his work. Since his wages are high, what can he do? If there are three men there, he stipulates in front of them and says "See that I am paid such and such. It is not possible [for me] to be idle and take a small wage, if you will tell me that I will take and be paid my [normal] wages. I will then take care of this lost item."
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
His own takes precedence. And he leaves the lost item.
