Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: Israel had no days as festive as the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, for on those days the maidens of Jerusalem would go out [dressed] in white, borrowed garments —- in order not to embarrass one who had none. All the garments [worn on these occasions] required immersion.  The maidens of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not consider beauty; consider family. Grace is false and beauty is vain; a woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised. And it is stated: Give her but the fruits of her own hands, and let her be praised in the gates by her very own deeds. Similarly, it says: Go forth and gaze, O daughters of Zion, upon King Shlomo, adorned with the crown His nation made Him on the day of His wedding and on the day of His heart's gladness. On the day of His wedding —- this is the giving of the Torah; and on the day of His heart's gladness —- this is the building of the Holy Temple. May it be rebuilt speedily in our days! Amen.

The Megillah may be read on the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fif-teenth [day of Adar], but never earlier nor later. Cities that were surrounded by walls at the time of Joshua son of Nun read on the fifteenth. Villages and large towns read on the fourteenth; however, villages [sometimes] advance [their reading] to the day of entry [into the towns].

How is this possible? [If] the fourteenth [of Adar] fell on a Monday, villages and large towns read on that very day; and walled cities [read] on the next day. [If] it fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday, villages advance [their reading] to the day of entry; large towns read on that very day; and walled cities [read] on the next day. If it fell on a Thursday, villages and large towns read on that very day; and walled cities [read] on the next day. [If] it fell on the eve of the Sabbath, villages advance [their reading] to the day of entry; large towns and walled cities read on that very day. [If] it fell on the Sabbath, villages and large towns advance [their reading] to the day of entry; walled cities read the next day. [If] it fell after the Sabbath, villages advance [their reading] to the day of entry; large towns read on that very day; walled cities read the next day.

What is considered a large town? Any in which there are ten unoccupied men. [If there are] fewer than that it is [considered] a village.  As regards these times they said to advance rather than postpone; but the time of the wood-offering of the Kohanim, [the fast of] Tishah B’Av, the festival-sacrifice, and the Assembly are postponed and not advanced. Even though [the Sages] said to advance [the reading] rather than postpone, eulogies, fasts, and gifts to the poor are permitted [on the earlier dates].  R’ Yehudah says: When [may the reading be advanced] —- in a place where they enter [the towns] on Monday and Thursday. However, in a place where they do not enter [the towns] on Monday and Thursday, they may read it only on the proper date.