We continue in Tractate Bava Basra, chapter 4, Mishnah 4. The Mishnah deals with a case similar to the previous one: a person who sells an entire courtyard, to which several houses usually opened, and does not define what is included in the sale. The question is what is that "everything" that is sold with it.
"Hamocher es hachatzer, machar batim, boros, shichin, ume'aros" - one who sells the courtyard has sold the houses, cisterns, trenches, and caves:
The houses are included in the sale, since a regular courtyard contains houses, and it is clear that the seller's intention is for the inseparable part of the courtyard. The same applies to the cisterns, trenches, and caves - the water reservoirs, whether they are round, long and narrow, or covered. Unlike a house, which does not necessarily have its own private water source (since the members of the household can access the shared, public water source of the courtyard), a regular courtyard does indeed have a water source for the residents of the courtyard, and therefore the water cistern is sold along with it.
"Aval lo es hametaltelin" - but not the movable property - the movable items in the courtyard are not included in the sale: the furniture, the key, the doors, and the like. These are movable and are not an essential part of the house or the courtyard.
"Bizman she'amar lo hi vechol mah shebesochah, harei kulan mechorin" - when he says to him, "It and everything in it," they are all sold:
When the seller specifies that he is selling the courtyard and everything in it, all those things that we saw in the previous Mishnayos are included in the sale, even the furniture in the houses.
What is the difference between the two Mishnayos?
The reasoning is that one who moves from house to house takes his belongings with him, and although transporting a bed and the like involves exertion, a person goes to the trouble because he needs it. However, one who moves from a courtyard to a courtyard is moving to a new land, to a new and distant place; he is leaving and disconnecting completely, and there is no logic in him taking the house furniture with him, but rather he leaves it behind.
"Bein kach uvein kach lo machar lo es hamerchatz velo es beis habad shebesochah" - either way he has not sold the bathhouse or the olive press that are inside it:
Whether he sold the courtyard with its contents or not - and even if he explicitly said "and everything in it" - the bathhouse and the olive press on the grounds of the courtyard are not included in the sale. The bathhouse is a public or commercial bathhouse, and the olive press is likewise a commercial installation. Not every courtyard has a bathhouse or an olive press, but these are facilities used for profit, and people from many courtyards in the surrounding area come to use them. Because of this, they are not an inseparable part of the courtyard: one who says "I am selling my courtyard" thereby includes the basic things that are part of the courtyard itself, but these commercial installations are an exception, and the seller retains his rights to the bathhouse and the olive press even after selling the courtyard.
Rabbi Eliezer's view:
According to Rabbi Eliezer, the word "courtyard" refers to the open area - the shared space in front of the houses - and not to the houses themselves. The ArtScroll commentary compares this to the English word "mall": its original meaning is an open area (such as the Mall in Washington), but nowadays a mall also includes the stores within it, and when a person sells his mall, his intention is for both the open areas and the stores alike. The Tanna Kamma holds this view: "the courtyard" includes the courtyard and the structures on it, which are part of it. Rabbi Eliezer, however, disagrees.
"Rabbi Eliezer omer: Hamocheir es hechatzeir lo machar ela avirah shel chatzeir" - The sale includes only the open space of the courtyard, meaning the area outside the houses. The buyer is therefore permitted to set up his own commercial installation there, such as an olive press or a bathhouse, but the houses and structures remain in the possession of the seller and are not sold.
The halachah does not follow Rabbi Eliezer, but rather the opinion of the Sages and the Tanna Kamma. However, as mentioned, everything depends on what is customary in a given time and place, and since this reality is far from our current reality, it is difficult to determine what the practical halachah would be - the matter depends on how people understand such expressions.