R. Hanina possessed many goats. One day the people came and said to him, "Your goats are causing us much damage in the field."

R. Hanina replied, "If they really cause you loss, let bears come and devour them, but if you are doing them an injustice, then may it be the will of God that every goat should bring a bear on its horns at eventide."

In the evening every goat came back carrying a bear on his horns. Thus it became evident that the goats had been falsely accused, as they had not caused any damage to the people.

The question is then raised in the Gemara: "Where did R. Hanina get those goats, since he was a very poor man, as you read in the stories above?"

R. Phinehas said, "I will explain it to you. One day a man was carrying a basketful

of hens before the house of R. Hanina and through an oversight left two hens at the door of R. Hanina. The wife of R. Hanina took them ill, and the hens laid eggs. Then R. Hanina said to his wife, 'Preserve the eggs which the hens are laying, and do not use them, for the man to whom the hens belong may come back and ask for them, and we shall be able to give him the eggs along with the hens.' So the good woman gathered many eggs and the hens hatched them, and thus they had many chickens. Then they sold the eggs and the chickens which had come from the hens which the carrier had left, and bought goats with the money. Sometime afterwards, the hen carrier passed the house of R. Hanina and said to his companion, 'I passed this door sometime ago, carrying hens, and left two hens in front of the door and forgot to take

them.' R. Hanina heard him and called him into his house and said to him, 'Can you give me a description of the hens which you left behind?' The carrier replied, 'Yes.' And gave him a description of the hens. Then R. Hanina gave him the goats which were the product of the hens, and these were the goats which had brought the bears on their horns from the field."