[If] someone touches a corpse and utensils or forms a roof over a corpse and touches utensils, [the utensils] become tamei. [If] he forms a roof over a corpse and over utensils, or he touches a corpse and forms a roof over utensils, [the utensils] remain tahor. If his hand is a handbreadth square, the utensils are tamei. There are two houses, each of which contains [a piece of corpse flesh] half the size of an olive, and a person stretches his hands into the houses. If his hands are as big as a square handbreadth, tumah spreads. If not, tumah does not spread.

All movable items convey tumah when they are as thick as a goad. R’ Tarfon said: ‘‘May I bury my children if this is not a mistaken ruling, which a listener heard and misunderstood. A farmer was once walking with his goad on his shoulder, when one end formed an ohel over a grave. [The Sages] declared him tamei because the uten-sils sheltered a corpse.’’ R’ Akiva said: ‘‘I will emend [the ruling] so that the words of the Sages remain valid. All movable objects convey tumah upon the person who carries them when they are as thick as a goad; upon themselves even if they are very thin; and upon an-other person or other utensils when they are a handbreadth wide.’’