Bekhorot 8a (ח.) — the Talmud in English

The dolphins [

he explains them and proceeds]

procreate with human beings,

and if a human being has intercourse with them, they become pregnant.

Before the beraita has concluded, the Gemara explains it:

What are dolphins?

Rav Yehuda said:

These are

sea people [

sons of the sea], fish that are half in the form of a human being and half in the form of a fish; and these are the dolphins.

And the Gemara continues to cite the words of the beraita:

Any creature whose testicles are external

is

a live-bearer [

its female gives birth] and does not lay eggs.

And any creature whose testicles are

internal,

is

an egg-layer.

Before the beraita has concluded, we raise an objection to it:

Is that so? But didn’t Shmuel say: A domestic

goose and a

wild

goose

are

forbidden as diverse species with each other,

and it is prohibited to mate them?

And we inquire: What is the reason!?

But they are one species!?

And

said—

he answered—

Abaye:

Because the males do not resemble one another, for

this one [

wild goose]

has external testicles, while this one [

domestic goose]

has internal testicles.

And now the difficulty arises:

but

even

both of them lay eggs,

as it is evident that there is one whose testicles are external and which lays eggs!?

Rather,

say this instead:

Any creature whose

male organ is

external

is

a live-bearer;

and any creature whose male organ is

internal

is

an egg-layer.

The beraita continues:

Any creature whose

mode of

intercourse is during the day

is

a live-bearer [

its females give birth]

during the day.

Any creature whose intercourse is

at night

is

a live-bearer at night.

Any creature whose intercourse is both during the day and at night gives birth both during the day and at night.

And the Gemara explains:

Its intercourse is during the day

and

it gives birth during the day;

this is a

rooster.

Its intercourse is

at night

and

it gives birth at night;

this is an

owl-bat.

Its intercourse is both during the day and at night

and

it gives birth both during the day and at night;

this is

a human being and anything similar to him [

and anything resembling him].

Before the beraita has concluded, the Gemara asks:

What practical difference does it make

when the time of their giving birth is?

And we explain: There is a practical difference with regard to the fact that a hen gives birth only during the day,

in accordance with the statement of Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana. For Rav Mari, son of Rav Kahana, said:

If one examined a chicken coop on the eve of a Festival

at twilight

and did not find an egg in it, and the next morning he rose early

before dawn

and found an egg in it,

it

is permitted to be eaten on the Festival,

and he need not be concerned that perhaps it is an egg that was laid on the Festival, which is prohibited to eat, because a hen does not give birth at night.

And we object:

But he examined it,

so how can we say that it was already there!?

And we explain:

Say: He did not examine it thoroughly,

or

say:

Perhaps

most of it had emerged and then it had gone back in,

perhaps it had emerged and then returned on the eve of the Festival—

And if so, it is permitted,

in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yohanan. For Rabbi Yohanan said: An egg whose majority emerged on the eve of the Festival—

and then returned—

is

permitted to be eaten during the

Festival.

The beraita continues:

Any creatures whose intercourse and gestation are the same,

two species that engage in intercourse in the same manner—as will be explained later in the beraita—and whose gestation period is also the same,

give birth

to one another

and raise one another [

one nurses the offspring of the other].

But any creatures whose intercourse and gestation are not the same do not give birth to one another and do not raise one another.

All creatures engage in intercourse

when the

face

of the male is

opposite the back of the neck

of the female,

except for three creatures that engage in intercourse face to face; and these are: fish, human beings, and snakes.

The Gemara asks:

And what is different about these three [

why do specifically these three engage in intercourse in this manner]?

When Rav Dimi came

from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia,

he said: They say in the West [

in Eretz Yisrael], regarding the reason for this matter:

Since the Divine Presence spoke with them,

for the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with the fish in the incident of the prophet Jonah, and with the snake in the incident of the Tree of Knowledge.

The tanna

in a beraita

taught: A

camel engages in intercourse

back to back.

The Sages taught: A hen

gives birth

after twenty-one days,

after it has become pregnant from the rooster, its egg takes until the twenty-first day to be completed—

And corresponding to it among trees—

the fruit takes from the time it blossoms until the fruit is fully formed—

the almond.

A dog, after fifty days,

from the time of conception until the form of the offspring is complete—

and corresponding to it among trees: a fig.

A cat, after fifty-two days, and corresponding to it among trees: a mulberry.

A pig, after sixty days, and corresponding to it among trees: an apple.

A fox and all kinds of creeping creatures, after six months, and corresponding to them among trees: grain.

A small, kosher animal, after five months, and corresponding to it among trees: a grapevine.

A

large, kosher animal, after nine months—

and corresponding to it among trees: an olive tree.

A large, non-kosher animal, after twelve months—

and corresponding to it among trees: a date palm.

The wolf, the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the cheetah

and the elephant, the ape, and the kifuuf [

a creature resembling an ape]

after three years—

and corresponding to them among trees: the Bnot Shuah fig.

The aphe’a

does not become pregnant until

seventy years

after it is born—

and corresponding to it among trees: the carob tree,

for

this carob tree takes seventy years from the time it is planted until the time its fruit is fully formed.

And its gestation period

of the aphe’a

is

three years.

A snake

gives birth

after seven years

from conception,

and for that wicked one [

the snake]

we find no counterpart

among trees—

And some say:

Its counterpart among trees is

muksasim [

a species of Bnot Shuah, but not literally Bnot Shuah].

The Gemara asks:

From where are these matters derived

that the snake’s gestation period is seven years?

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said, and they attributed it in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hanania:

As it is stated

in the statement of God to the snake in the incident of the Tree of Knowledge [Genesis 3:14]: “

Cursed are you—

throughout the duration of your gestation—

more than every animal and more than every beast of the field.”

And why was it necessary to say “and more than every beast of the field”?

If from the animal—

whose gestation period is longer than that of the beast—

the snake

was cursed,

then

from the beast—

whose gestation period is shorter than that of the animal—

is it not certainly so!?

Rather,

this is what the verse said: “Cursed are you more than every animal,” just as the animal is more cursed than the beast, and

this teaches you:

Just as the animal was cursed by one beast to seven [ sevenfold], and what is that? A donkey, that is, a large, non-kosher animal,

by a cat,

for the gestation period of a large, non-kosher animal is twelve months, which is seven times the gestation period of a cat, which is fifty-two days—

so was it cursed [

the snake]

by the animal

a large, non-kosher animal that becomes pregnant once in twelve months

one to seven, which means

sevenfold—

seven years [

seven years].

And we object:

Say: Perhaps the intention of the verse is:

Just as the beast was cursed by the animal one to three, and what is that? A lion,

a

beast,

by a donkey

a large, non-kosher animal, since the lion’s gestation period is three years and the donkey’s is twelve months,

so was it cursed [

the snake]

by the beast [

the lion]

one to three, which means—

the snake’s gestation period is—

nine years!?

the lion ]

by a factor of three, which means—

the snake’s gestation period—

nine years!?