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125. Dispute between R. Eliezer and R. Joshua about levi-tical purity. Appealed to in turn, the Harub tree[ uprooteditself], the water turned back, the walls of the Midrash[ bent], and all in support of R. Eliezer; even a voice fromheaven decided in his favour. The sages, however decided,against him and thus practically excommunicated him.R. Akiba communicated the decision to him. There wasgreat dearth in the land. R. Gamliel( his brother- in- law)was moreover exposed to great danger at sea. The sagesacted thus in order to avert factions.
126. The death and leave- taking of R. Eliezar the Great.He foretold to every one the manner of his death as well asthe martyrdom of R. Akiba. He used the parable of the seasbeing ink, the reeds pens and all men writers and yet theirbeing unable to write down all that he had said. He taughtR. Akiba how to plant gourds by word of mouth andhow to make them disappear. He died whilst pronouncingthe word:" clean."
127. R. Eliezer was taken ill. Four sages came to visit himand tried to comfort him, but none succeeded so well asR. Akiba, who said that suffering was invaluable for suf-fering begot repentance.
128. One need not observe the religious forms of mourningin the case of one's slaves. A slave of R. Eliezer died and heaccepted no" condolences."
129. R. Pineḥas b. Jair would never touch other peoples'bread. He crossed the river Ginai dryshod, when on his wayto ransom captive after he had threatened that the rivershould otherwise lack water; others also crossed dryshod byreason of his merits. His ass would not touch the fodder un-less a special tithe had been taken from it.- R. Pineḥas wasinvited to dinner, but seeing white mules at his host'sdoor, considered them dangerous and refused to dine.When pressed hard by his host a mountain suddenly se-parated them.
130. R. Zeira bought a field, not knowing that R. Gidelwas negotiating for it. He then gave it up to him as a
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