An alley that is higher than twenty cubits must be lowered. R’ Yehudah says: He need not. And one which is wider than ten cubits must be narrowed. However, if it has the form of a doorway, even if it is wider than ten cubits, it need not be narrowed.

The adjustment of an alley — Beis Shammai say: A pole and a crossbeam. But Beis Hillel say: A pole or a crossbeam. R’ Eliezer says: Two poles. A disciple — in the presence of R’ Akiva — stated in the name of R’ Yishmael: Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel did not differ concerning an alley which is narrower than four cubits that it may be [adjusted] with a pole or a crossbeam. Concerning which did they differ? Concerning one which is wider than four cubits and up to ten cubits. Beis Shammai say: A pole and a crossbeam. But Beis Hillel say: A pole or a crossbeam. Said R’ Akiva: They differed in both cases.

A person may count his guests and desserts orally, but not from a written note. And he may cast lots with his children and the members of his household [for portions] at the table, provided he does not intend to wager a large portion against a small portion, because of [the prohibition of] gambling. And [Kohanim] may cast lots for sacrifices on Yom Tov, but not for portions.

A person may not hire workers on the Sabbath, nor may a person tell his friend to hire workers for him. We may not [go to] await nightfall at the [Sabbath] boundary for the purpose of hiring workers or bringing produce, but one may await nightfall [to enable him] to watch, and bring produce in his hand. Abba Shaul stated a general rule: Whatever I am permitted to instruct [on the Sabbath], I am permitted to await nightfall for it.

We may await nightfall at the [Sabbath] boundary to attend to the affairs of a bride; or to the affairs of the deceased, [viz.,] to bring a coffin and shrouds for him. If a gentile brought flutes on the Sabbath, a Jew may not bewail with them, unless they came from a nearby place. If they made a coffin for him or dug a grave for him, a Jew may be interred in it; but if [it was done] for a Jew, he may never be interred in it.

We may attend to all the necessities of the deceased: We may anoint and rinse him, provided we do not move any of his limbs; we may pull the pillow from under him and lay him on the sand in order that [his body] keep; we may bind up the jaw, not that it should close, but that it should not [open any] further. So, too, [with] a beam that broke, we may support it with a bench or with the side-pieces of a bed, not that it should be raised, but that it should not [sag any] further. We may not close the eyes of the dead on the Sabbath, nor [may we do so] on a weekday at the moment of death, [for] whoever closes the eyes [of a dying person] at the moment of death is a murderer.

If darkness overtakes a person on the road, he may give his purse to a gentile; if no gentile is with him, he may place it on the donkey. When he reaches the outermost courtyard, he may remove those objects that may be handled on the Sabbath; and [as for] those that may not be handled on the Sabbath, he may untie the ropes, and [allow] the sacks [to] fall of themselves.

We may untie bundles of straw before an animal, and we may scatter tender cedar boughs, but not triply bound bundles of straw. We may not shred neither fodder nor carobs before an animal, whether [it is] lightweight or heavyweight. R’ Yehudah permits [crushing] carobs for a lightweight [animal].

We may neither stuff a camel, nor cram it, but we may put food into its mouth. We may not fatten calves, but we may put food into their mouths. We may put food into the mouths of fowls, and we may put water into bran, but we may not knead it. We may not place water before bees or before doves that are in a dovecote, but we may place [water] before geese and chickens, and before Herodian doves.

We may cut up gourds before cattle or a carcass before dogs. R’ Yehudah says: If it was not [yet] a carcass prior to the Sabbath, it is prohibited, since it is not something that was prepared.

We may annul vows on the Sabbath, and we may seek release [from vows] for things that are necessary for the Sabbath. We may stop up a window, and we may measure a patch or a mikveh. An in-cident occurred in the days of R’ Tzaddok’s father and in the days of Abba Shaul ben Batnis, that they stopped up the window with an earthenware jug, and tied a cup with a rush to ascertain whether a vat had an aperture of a handbreadth or not. And from their words we learned that we may stop up, measure, and tie on the Sabbath.