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.