Gittin 69a — the Talmud in English

For blurred vision

for eye ailments —

let him bring a spotted scorpion of seven colors

and, because of old age,

dry it in the shade

so that it should not dry out because of the sun,

and let him grind two portions

of eye-paint and one portion of it

and let him grind two portions of eye-paint and one portion of it,

and let him fill three spoons of the eye-paint into this eye and three spoons of the eye-paint into this eye

and fill three spoons of the eye-paint and put them into this eye, and three spoons of the eye-paint into this eye, but

more, let him not fill

more than this he should not put,

for if not

he is not careful to put more —

his eye will burst

his eye will burst.

A remedy

for the night-time blurred vision

for the dazzling that a person has at night:

let him bring a hair rope

he should bring a rope of animal hair and of the tail of a horse and cow,

and let him bind one leg of it and one leg of a dog

and bind one of its legs and one of the dog’s legs at the two ends of the rope,

and let children rattle potsherds after it

and let children rattle broken pieces of earthenware after it,

and let them say to him

and let them say this incantation to him:

“The dog’s elder, the rooster’s fool.”

the dog’s elder, the rooster’s fool.

And let him collect seven pieces of meat from seven houses

and let him collect seven pieces of meat from seven houses,

and let him have them placed for him in the door socket

and let the members of the households place those pieces of meat for him in the hole of the door,

and let him eat them in the city’s refuse heaps

and let him eat them in the city’s refuse heaps,

after that, let him loosen the hair rope

afterward he should untie the knot from his foot,

and let them say thus

and let them say this incantation:

“The blurred vision”

the dazzling

of so-and-so son of so-and-so, leave him

leave him,

of so-and-so son of so-and-so, and cling to the dog in the pupil of its eye

and cling to the dog in the pupil of its eye.

A remedy

for daytime blurred vision

for the dazzling of the day,

let him bring seven spleens from the inside of animals

he should take seven spleens from among the animals,

and let him roast them on a potshard of a bloodletter

and let him roast them on a dirty potsherd into which blood is bled,

and let him sit inside and another person outside

and let him sit inside and another person outside,

and let the blind man say to him

and let the blind man say to the sighted man:

“Give”

give

me, so that I may eat

so that I may eat,

and let that sighted man say to him

and let the sighted man say to him:

“Take, eat”

take, eat,

and after he eats, let him break the potsherd

and after he eats, let him break the potsherd,

for if not

if he does not break the potsherd —

it returns upon him

the illness returns upon him.

A remedy

for blood that comes from the nostrils

for blood that comes out of the nostrils:

let them bring a man who is a priest whose name is Levi

they should bring a man who is a priest whose name is “Levi.”

And let him write “Levi” backwards

and let him write the name “Levi” reversed.

And if not

he can bring no such person,

let him bring an ordinary person

he should bring an ordinary person

and let him write for him

and write this incantation for him:

“I am Pappi Shila son of Somki.”

And let him write this

backwards

reversed.

And if not

he can bring a person,

let him write for himself thus

let him write this incantation for himself:

“Taste a ladle in silver water; taste a ladle in blemished water.”

And if not, let him bring the root of alfalfa

he should take the root of alfalfa,

and an old bedcord

and a rope of an old bed,

and a kortesa

and paper of tow,

and turmeric

and saffron,

and the red part of the palm branch

and the red part that grows in the palm branch,

and let him burn them together

and let him burn them together,

and let him bring a tuft of wool and twist two wicks

and let him bring a shearing of wool and twist two wicks from it,

and let him dip them in vinegar

and let him put them in vinegar,

and let him roll them in this ash

and let him roll the wicks in this ash, and the ash will cling to them,

and let him put them in his nostrils

and let him put them in his nostrils.

And if not, let him see

he should see

a water channel that flows

that flows

from east toward west,

and let him step and stand with one foot on this side and one foot on that side

and let him step across it, and place one foot on this side of the water channel and one foot on that side of the water channel,

and let him take mud in his right hand from beneath his left foot, and in his left hand from beneath his right foot

and let him take mud in his right hand from beneath his left foot, and in his left hand from beneath his right foot,

and let him twist two woolen wicks

and let him twist two woolen wicks,

and let him dip them in the mud

and let him dip the wicks in the mud

and let him put them in his nostrils

and let him put the wicks in his nostrils,

and if not, let him sit beneath a gutter and let them bring water and pour it over him

let him sit beneath the gutter, and let them bring water and pour it over him through the gutter.

And let them say

and let them say this incantation:

“Just as these waters cease, so may the blood of so-and-so son of so-and-so cease.”

just as these waters cease, so may the blood of so-and-so son of so-and-so cease.

For blood that comes from the mouth

for blood that comes out of the mouth from the windpipe —

we examine it with a stalk of wheat

we examine it with a straw of wheat,

if it clings

if the straw becomes stuck

it comes from the lung

it came from the lung,

and it has a remedy

and it has a remedy,

and if not

if the straw did not become stuck to the blood,

it comes from the liver

that the blood came from the liver,

and it has no remedy

and it has no remedy.

Rav Ami said to Rav Ashi: But did we not learn the opposite,

for a defect in the lung is more severe than a defect in the liver,

as we learned in a Mishna in tractate Chullin: If

the liver was removed and nothing at all remained of it,

only then is the animal tereifa,

whereas concerning the lung we learned:

a lung that was punctured or from which something was missing,

it is tereifa,

and it follows that a defect in the lung is more severe than a defect in the liver, since it is enough if the lung is punctured for it to become tereifa, whereas in the liver it does not become tereifa until the liver is removed entirely.

He said to him:

the reason that if blood comes out of his mouth from the liver there is no remedy is that

since it comes from his mouth

that the blood comes out of his mouth,

say

it has already been completely dissolved

say that the liver has already been completely dissolved and nothing of it remains, and it entered the lung through the liver’s windpipe, which is joined to the lung’s windpipe.

The Master said

we learned in the Gemara above:

if

the blood that comes out of the mouth

comes from the lung

it comes from the lung,

it has

there is for it

a remedy.

What

what is

its remedy?

Let him bring

he should take

seven fistfuls of the refuse of beet greens

an amount of seven fistfuls from the trimmings of beets,

and seven fistfuls of the refuse of leeks

and seven fistfuls from the trimmings of leeks,

and five fistfuls of ferida

and five fistfuls of a grass called “ferida,”

and three fistfuls of lentils

and three fistfuls of lentils,

and a fistful of cumin

and a fistful of cumin,

and a fistful of ropes

and a fistful of ropes,

and corresponding to them —

in the measure of all these, let him take

the fat of a firstborn animal

the intestinal fat of a firstborn animal,

and let him cook and eat

and let him cook and eat all of it,

and afterward let him drink strong beer from the season of Tevet

and let him drink afterward strong beer from the period of Tevet.

For toothache

for illness in the inner teeth —

Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Let him bring a single clove of garlic

he should take a head of garlic that contained only one clove,

and let him crush it with oil and salt

and let him crush it with oil and salt,

and let him place it on the thumbnail of the side that hurts him

and let him place it on the thumbnail of the hand on the side that hurts him,

and let him surround it with a strip of dough

and let him put around it the edges of dough,

and let him be careful regarding his flesh

and let him be careful that the garlic should not touch his flesh, because

it is difficult for leprosy

it is harsh and can cause leprosy.

For throat boils

for the pustules that grow in the throat — inflammation of the tonsils —

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: My heating leaf

a leaf of the heating filtero plant is good for healing

like

like the herb called

“mamru.”

But

the root of my heating leaf

the root of the heating filtero plant

is preferable

for healing

to “mamru,”

and let him hold these in his mouth

and let him put these in his mouth

to establish

to stop the illness, so that the tonsils should not swell further.

For pustules

for pustules —

in order to gather their phlegm inside them so that it will come out when they burst,

let him bring

he should take

large bran from the top of the sieve

large bran that remains above at the top of the sieve when flour is sifted,

and lentils with their dust

and lentils with the earth with which they were uprooted,

and fenugreek

and fenugreek,

and the flower of hops

and the flower of hops,

and let him hold an amount like a nut in his mouth

and let him take an amount the size of a nut into his mouth.

For opening

in order to open the tonsils in the throat and bring their phlegm outside —

let his fellow blow white cress into his throat through a stalk of wheat

his fellow should insert white cress into his throat through a straw of wheat.

For raising

for raising flesh that will heal these fissures —

let him bring dust from beneath the shade of a latrine

he should take earth found beneath the shade of stones arranged in the form of a seat for a latrine in the fields.

And let him knead it with honey, and let him eat it. For it benefits him

and let him knead it with honey and eat it. This thing benefits him.

For acute nasal discharge

for a severe nasal discharge that comes from the head through the nose —

let him bring an amount of nishdur like a piece

he should take the substance “nishdur” [called “ammonia”], the amount of a “galant” of cedar.

And an amount the size of a nut of sweet milk-gum

and an amount the size of a nut of sweet galbanum,

and a spoonful of clear honey

and a full spoon of light-colored honey,

and a quarter-log measure of wine of Meḥoza, clear wine

and a full vessel that holds a quarter-log, of the type used in Meḥoza, filled with clear wine,

and let him boil them together

and let him cook them together.

And when the nishdur boils, let him boil all of it

when the “nishdur” [the ammonia substance] is cooked, everything will be cooked.

And if not

he cannot do so,

let him bring a quarter-log of white goat’s milk

he should take a quarter-log of milk from a white goat,