Karna the Ferryman-Judge and How Bribery Blinds the Sharp

Karna used to take a stira-coin from the one who would be acquitted and a stira-coin from the one who would be liable, and then judge their case. How could he do this, when it is written, "And you shall take no bribe"? That [prohibition] applies where one takes from one party and not from the other, for then he may come to pervert the judgment; but Karna took from both of them. And is even this permitted? It was taught: "And you shall take no bribe" - what does this teach? If to teach not to acquit the liable and not to make liable the innocent, it is already said, "you shall not pervert judgment" (Deuteronomy 16:19). Rather, even if he acquitted the innocent and made liable the liable [ruling correctly], the Torah said, "you shall take no bribe." That applies where he takes it as a bribe; Karna took it as a wage [for lost work]. And is that permitted? We learned: "one who takes a wage to judge - his judgments are void." And should you say Karna took it as compensation for idleness from his work - we learned, "unseemly is the judge who takes a wage to judge, but his judgment stands." How so? If he takes a judging-fee, we learned his judgments are void; rather it must be that he takes compensation for idleness, and yet it is taught the judge is unseemly. That applies to idleness that is not evident; Karna's idleness was evident, for Karna used to test wine for the wine-merchants and they would give him a zuz [each day], and when two came before him he would say, "Give me a zuz each and I will judge you," [to replace his lost wage]. Rabbi Abbahu said: Come and see how blinded are the eyes of those who take bribes. A man feels pain in his eyes and gives much money to the physician, with no certainty whether he will be cured or not; yet they [judges] blind their own eyes for the worth of a mere perutah, as it is said, "for the bribe blinds the clear-sighted." Our Rabbis taught: "the bribe blinds the clear-sighted" - all the more so the foolish. "And subverts the words of the righteous" - all the more so the wicked. But are the foolish and the wicked fit to judge? Rather this is what it means: "the bribe blinds" - even a great scholar who takes a bribe will not leave the world without blindness of the heart; "and subverts the words of the righteous" - even a perfectly righteous man who takes a bribe will not leave the world without confusion of mind. Rava said: what is the reason a bribe [is so corrupting]? Once he takes the bribe from him, the giver becomes like part of himself, and no one sees fault in himself. What is the meaning of "shochad" [bribe]? That he becomes "chad" [one] with him. Rav Pappa said: a man should judge a case neither for one he loves nor for one he hates - for the one he loves, he will see no fault; for the one he hates, he will see no merit.