[If] a deaf-mute, a mentally deranged person, or a minor slaughtered with others observing them, one is required to cover [the blood]; by themselves, he is exempt from covering [the blood]. Likewise, in the matter of ‘‘it and its offspring,’’ [if] they slaughtered with others observing them, it is forbidden to slaughter after them; by themselves — R’ Meir permits slaughtering after them, but the Sages prohibit [it]. They agree, however, that if one slaughtered, he does not incur forty lashes.