Chapter XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV.
§ 1. He who [on the Sabbath-eve] is overtaken by the dusk on the road must give his purse to a heathen. If there be no heathen with him he must put it on the ass. As soon as he arrives at the outmost court [dwelling of the first town or village he reaches] he
takes off all such things as may be moved on the Sabbath; as to those things which must not be moved he loosens the cords, that they may fall off by themselves.
§ 2. They may untie bundles of straw for cattle; also to strew green boughs [stalks for them], but they must not undo bundles trebly tied. Herbs used as fodder, and carob pods, must not be cut up for cattle, be it large or small [kine or sheep]. R. Jehudah permits the cutting up of carob pods for small cattle.
§ 3. A camel must not be crammed [to fatten it]; nor yet forced to eat; but the food may be put into its mouth. Calves must not be crammed, but the food may be put into their mouths. Poultry may be fed: water may be poured on bran, but it must not be kneaded. They must not put water before bees, or before pigeons in a dovecot; but they may put [it] before geese, and before poultry, and before house pigeons [tame ones].
§ 4. Pumpkins may be cut up for cattle, and carrion for dogs. R. Jehudah saith, "If the carrion was not such [if the beast had not died] on the Sabbath-eve [or before], it must not be cut up; because [in that case] it is not [part] of what has been provided [for the necessary consumption of the Sabbath].
§ 5. A man may annul [disallow] vows [of his wife or daughter], 1 on the Sabbath, and consult [a sage] as to vows [relating to objects required] for the Sabbath. Window light may be shut out by blinds; a piece of stuff may be measured, 2 and also a מקוה. 3 It happened in the days of R. Zadock's father, and of Abbah Saul, that they closed a window with an earthen vessel, and then tied another vessel to a pole with withies, in order to ascertain whether, in a covered vessel [that stood on a kennel between two houses] there was an opening one hand high or not. 4 Thence we learn that [in certain cases] it may become permitted to stop up [close], to measure, and to tie, on the Sabbath.