Gittin 69b — the Talmud in English

And he should drip it onto three cabbage stalks

and drip it onto three cabbage stalks in a vessel,

and stir it with a marmahin twig

and stir the pot with a wooden stick called “marmahin,”

and when the marmahin twig cooks, it cooks the whole of it

and when the marmahin wood cooks, everything is cooked.

And if not

he is able to do so,

let him bring the excrement of a white dog

and take excrement of a white dog,

and knead it with resin

and knead it with tzari,

and insofar as it is possible

for him through another remedy, or to hold himself back during his illness,

let him not eat excrement

the excrement of dogs, so that he will not eat it,

because it dismembers

because it detaches his limbs.

For a sharp pain

for a sharp pain—

let him bring a Lilith arrow

and take an arrow of Lilith, a stone made in the shape of an arrow that falls with hail,

and invert it

and invert it, so that the point is below and the handle is above,

and let him pour water over it and drink

and pour water over it and drink the water,

and if not

he is able to do so,

let him bring water from which a dog drank at night

and take water from which a dog drank at night,

and let him beware of exposure

and beware of exposure, for the water was in a place where a snake is not found, and there is no concern lest a snake drank from it and left venom in it.

For exposure

if he drank exposed water and is concerned lest a snake drank from it and left venom in it—he should drink

a quarter-log of undiluted wine

a quarter-log of undiluted wine, and this will neutralize the venom.

For an abscess

for a wound containing pus—he should drink

a quarter-log of wine with red ahala

a quarter-log of wine mixed with red ahal, an aromatic plant,

for fainting of the heart

for fainting caused by fear—

let him bring three barley loaves

and take three barley loaves,

and soak them in kamkha over which forty days have not passed

and soak them in kamkha over which forty days have not yet passed since it was made,

and eat

and eat it,

and afterward drink diluted wine

and afterward drink wine diluted with much water.

Rav Aḥa of Difti said to Ravina:

if he does so,

all the more so, his heart will faint

all the more so, his heart will faint, since these things weaken a person’s strength and weaken him,

He said to him

Ravina said to him:

I

this remedy

for heaviness of the heart

for heaviness of the heart, which is working too strongly,

said

say

y.

But

for fainting of the heart

for fainting and faintness of the heart caused by weakness of the heart,

the remedy:

let him bring three wheat loaves, soak them in honey, and eat

and take three wheat loaves, soak them in honey, and eat them,

and afterward drink undiluted wine

and afterward drink undiluted wine, and then he will become strengthened.

For pain of the heart

for pain of the heart—

let him bring three eggs’ measure of mint

and take three eggs’ measure of mint,

and an egg’s measure of cumin

and an egg’s measure of cumin,

and an egg’s measure of sesame

and an egg’s measure of sesame,

and eat

and eat them.

For intestinal pain

of the intestines—

let him bring three hundred long peppers

and take three hundred long peppers,

and every day drink one hundred of them in wine

and every day drink one hundred of them with wine.

A deed:

Ravin of

from the place called

Nehardea, made for his daughter

made for his daughter

one hundred and fifty of these, according to Rav Ashi

of these peppers of ours,

and she was healed

and she was cured.

For a worm

for a worm in the intestines—he should drink

a quarter-log of wine with laurel leaves

a quarter-log of wine with laurel leaves.

For a white worm

for a white worm in the intestines—

let him bring the seed of galgila and tie it in shisteg

and take the seed of uruga and tie it in a piece of cotton cloth,

and soak it in water and drink

and soak it in water and drink the water.

And let him beware of the seed

and beware lest he swallow the seed grain,

for if not

he is not careful—

it will pierce his intestines

the grain will pierce his intestines.

For stopping

to stop diarrhea—he should eat

fresh sisin

a type of moist mint leaves

in water

in water.

For loosening

to loosen and cause constipation to pass—he should drink sisin

dry

dry

in water

in water,

and your sign

so that you do not confuse them, drinking moist [leaves] to cause diarrhea and dry [leaves] to stop it:

a moist herb with which a river is dammed

a moist herb with which rivers are dammed; through this you will remember that the moist closes and the dry opens.

For the spleen

when his spleen is swollen and enlarged because of illness—

let him bring seven water leeches

and take seven water leeches,

and dry them in the shade

and dry them in the shade,

and every day drink two or three in wine

and every day drink two or three of them with wine,

and if not

he is able to do so,

let him bring the spleen of a goat that has not opened

and take the spleen of a goat that has not given birth,

and roast it in an oven

and place it in an oven,

and stand opposite it

and stand facing it,

and say

and say this incantation:

Just as this spleen dries, so shall the spleen of So-and-so son of So-and-so dry

just as this spleen dries, so shall the spleen of So-and-so son of So-and-so dry.

And if not,

if there is no oven,

let him plaster it between the bricks of a new house

and plaster the spleen into the wall of a new house, so that it adheres between the rows of bricks, and dry it there,

and say thus

and say so—the above incantation.

And if not

he is able to do so,

let him search for a corpse that died on Shabbat

and search until he is expert in knowing where there is a corpse that died on Shabbat,

and take its hand and place it on his spleen

and take the dead person’s hand and place it on the sick person’s spleen,

and say

and say this incantation:

Just as this hand dries, so shall the spleen of So-and-so son of So-and-so dry

just as this hand dries, so shall the spleen of So-and-so son of So-and-so dry.

And if not

he finds no corpse that died on Shabbat,

let him bring a fish and roast it in the coals before a smith

and take a fish and roast it in the coals before the smith’s bellows,

and eat it

and eat it

in the water of the smith’s workshop

in the water with which the smith quenches the hot iron,

and drink from the water of the smith’s workshop

and drink from this water.

And the Gemara brings a deed involving

a certain goat that would drink the water of the smith’s workshop

a certain goat that would drink the smith’s water.

It was slaughtered, and no spleen was found for it

they slaughtered it, and no spleen was found for it, because it had shriveled up so much.

And if not

he is able to do so,

let him open a barrel of wine for his sake

so that he should purchase a barrel of wine for his drinking; that is, he should always drink much good wine.

Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: If he has a barrel of wine

if Rav Ashi has a barrel of wine,

he would not come before the Master!

so that he would not come before my master to request a remedy, since the wine already heals him.

Rather, let him accustom himself

let him accustom himself

to

eating

bread

of

the morning meal, which is beneficial for his entire body

which benefits his entire body.

For hemorrhoids

for the illness of hemorrhoids—

let him bring

let him take

kakula and aloe

the plant kakuli and aloe,

and aspirka and martakha

and mercury and silver dross, which boils when the silver extracted from the earth is poured, and it is called martakha,

and a filon ornament

and a bundle of perfumes that women hang around their necks, made of gold or silver, and put into it oil mixed with a type of perfume called filon,

and pigeon droppings

and pigeon dung,

and place them in linen rags in summer and cotton rags in winter

and take all these in linen rags in summer, when they are cold, and in cotton rags in winter, when they are warm, and place them in that place.

And if not

he is able to do so,

let him drink diluted beer

let him drink beer diluted with much water.

For shigrona

for an ailment in the loins—

let him bring a vessel of small-fish brine

and take a vessel full of brine of small fish,

and roll it sixty times on this thigh and sixty times on that thigh

and roll it sixty times on this thigh and sixty times on that thigh.

For a urinary stone

for a stone in the urinary passages—

let him bring

let him take

three drops of kupara oil

three drops of oil from tar refuse, which is pitch,

and three drops of leek juice

and three drops squeezed from leeks,

and three drops of clear wine

and three drops of clear, clean wine,

and cast it

and place it

for a man on his organ and for a woman in that place.

And if not

he is able to do so,

let him bring the ear of a wineskin

and take the ear of a wineskin

and hang it

and hang it

for a man on his organ and for a woman on her breasts.

And if not, let him bring a scarlet thread spun by a suspected woman, daughter of a suspected woman

and take a scarlet thread that a suspected woman, daughter of a suspected woman, spun,

and hang it

and hang it

for a man on his organ and for a woman on her breasts.

And if not, let him bring

let him take

a male louse and a female louse, and hang them

and hang them

for a man on his organ and for a woman in that place,

and when

and when

he urinates, let him urinate on dry asisna on the door hinge, and let him be careful with the stone that emerges from it

he should urinate on a dry acacia branch in the door hinge, and be careful with the stone that emerges from it, to preserve it,

for

this stone

is beneficial for all fevers

is beneficial for all fever illnesses.

For external fever

for external fever—

let him bring three garvei of date pits

and take three seahs of date pits

and three garvei of ateraf adra

and three seahs of leaves from a tree called adar.

And let him boil each one separately

and boil each one separately,

and sit between them

and sit between them,

and place them in two tubs

and place them in two troughs,

and bring a table and place it upon one

and bring a table and place it over one trough,

and let him stand it above this one and place it above that one

and set the table above this trough and place it above that trough,

and from above this one place it above that one

and from above this one place it above that one,

until steam rises in it

until vapor rises in it, so that it becomes very hot,

and bathe from them

and bathe from them,

and when he drinks, let him drink from the water of the adar, but from the water of the date pits let him not drink

and when he drinks—from the water of the adar leaves he should drink, but from the water of the date pits he should not drink,

because they make him sterile

because they render him unable to beget children.

For internal fever

for fever that is inside—

let him bring seven handfuls of beet from seven beds

and take seven handfuls of spinach from seven garden beds,

and boil them with their soil and eat

and boil them with the soil attached to their roots and eat them,

and drink ateraf adar in beer

and drink adar leaves in beer.