The following comes from Tractate Pesahim from the Babylonian Talmud:
I.11 A. [4A] Rab was the son of R.
Hiyya’s brother and the son of his sister. [Freedman: He was the son of his
paternal brother and his mother was Hiyya’s sister on his mother’s side.] When he went up there [to the Land of
Israel], he said to him, “Is Aibu [your father] alive?”
B. He
said to him, “Mother is fine.”
C. He
said to him, “Is your mother fine?”
D. He
said to him, “Is Aibu alive?”
E. He said to his servant, “Take off my
shoes and bring my clothing after me to the bathhouse.”
F. Three
conclusions are to be drawn from the incident:
G. The
conclusion is to be drawn: A mourner is forbidden to tie on a sandal.
H. The
conclusion is to be drawn: A bad news that comes from afar is to yield a
mourning period of only one day.
I. The
conclusion is to be drawn: Part of a day of mourning is tantamount to the
whole of that day. (Jacob Neusner, The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation
and Commentary, 22 vols. [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011],
4:10)
