Si on perd quelque chose pendant la journée et qu'on le trouve ce jour-là, c'est pur. Si [il la perd] pendant la journée et qu'il la trouve cette nuit-là, ou la nuit et qu'il la trouve le lendemain, ou ce jour-là et la trouve le lendemain, elle est impure. Telle est la règle: tout ce que la nuit, ou une partie de celle-ci, a traversé [alors qu'il était perdu] est impur. Si l'on étale des navires dans un domaine public, ils sont purs. Si [il l'a fait] dans un domaine privé, ils sont impurs, mais s'il les gardait, ils sont purs. S'ils sont tombés [au-delà de sa vue] et qu'il est allé les récupérer, ils sont impurs. Si son seau est tombé dans la fosse d'un am ha'aretz , et qu'il [le propriétaire] est allé apporter quelque chose pour l'élever, il est impur parce qu'il l'a laissé dans le domaine d'un am ha'aretz pour même un moment.
Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
המאבד ביום ומצא ביום טהור – for something undefined if a person would find it and touch/come in contact with it, he would lift it up, in the manner that he finds a lost object. But at night, even for one hour that he can’t see it, we are concerned lest a ritually impure person touched it and he did not see it. But our Mishnah is dealing with the public domain, and its manner of doubt is assumed to be ritually pure but even so at night, they are ritually impure by Midras/ritual impurity through treading or by someone defiled by a corpse. But in the private domain, its manner of doubt is ritually impure, whether during the day or whether at night, and this is brought in the Tosefta (Tractate Taharot, Chapter 9, Halakha 10).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
One who loses something during the day and finds it on the same day it remains clean. If it was lost during the daytime and found in the night, or if it was lost in the night and found during the day or if it was lost on one day and found on the next day, it is unclean. This is the general rule: if the night or part of the night has passed over it, it is unclean. If one loses an object during the day and finds it the same day, he can be sure that no one impure had touched it, for had someone stumbled over it, he would have picked it up and taken it. However, at night someone might have stumbled over it without seeing it. Therefore, if night passes over it, it must be assumed to be impure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
ברשות הרבים טהורים ברשות היחיד טמאים – We don’t have here other than a manner of doubt, lest a heathen or a commoner/who is not careful in his observance of the laws of Levitical purity or tithing touched them. Therefore, in the public domain, where there is a matter of doubt of it being ritually pure, it is ritually pure, whereas in the private domain, where there is a matter of doubt of it being ritually impure, they are ritually impure.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
One who spreads out his clothes: If in a public domain, they remain clean; But if in a private domain they are unclean. If he kept watch over them, they remain clean. If they fell down and he went to bring them, they are unclean. The person here spreads out his clothes in a high place in order for them to dry. If he does this in the public domain, then we have a case of doubtful impurity in the public domain and the clothes are pure. But if he does so in the private domain and there is a chance that someone impure touched the clothes, they have to be assumed impure. If he watches over them, they are pure. If they fall down from the high place in which they were, then someone might have stepped on them. Therefore, even if they are on the ground only for a very short while, they must be treated as impure.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tahorot
מפני שהונח ברשות עם הארץ – and everything that is in the house of common is considered having corpse defilement and requires sprinkling [on the third and seventh days – see Numbers 19:19].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tahorot
If one's bucket fell into the cistern of an ‘am ha-arez and he went to bring something to draw it up with, it is unclean, since it was left for a time in the domain of an am haaretz. The person left his bucket in the domain of the am haaretz while he went to get a rope to bring it up. Even though it is unlikely that the am haaretz touched the bucket, he must treat it as if it is impure.
