Our rabbis taught: An incident once took place with a Jewish man who had one cow [which he used] for ploughing. [Then], his hand [fortune] was diminished and he sold her [the cow] to a non-Jewish man and it ploughed with him [for the] six day of the week. On Shabbat he took her out to plough with him and she laid down under the yoke. He then walked [to the cow] and hit her, and she did not move from her place. Since he saw it was so, he walked and said to the Jewish man who sold her to him: "Come [and] take your cow, perhaps she has some [debilitating] pain since [no matter] how many times I hit her and she [still] does not move from her place." The Jewish man understood [the cause of the cow's action], saying [to himself] this is for the sake of Shabbat, [for] she has learned to rest on Shabbat. He [the Jew] said to him [the non-Jew]: "Come, I will make her stand up." When he neared [the cow], he spoke into the cow's ear: "Cow, you know that when you were in my possession you would plough during the days of the week and on Shabbat you would rest. [But] now that I have been afflicted by suffering, and you are in the hands of a non-Jew I am asking you to stand up and plough." Immediately, she stood up and ploughed. The non-Jew said to him: "I had not asked you to take the cow until now, and I did not come to you to address any matter apart from this. And I will not let you go until you tell me what you did to her in her ear, [for] I struggled with her and I hit her and she did not stand up." The Jewish man began to appease him and said: "I did no magic or sorcery, rather in this specific manner did I divert her." Immediately, the non-Jew was awestruck, saying [to himself]: If a cow which does not have [the ability of] speech nor understanding can recognize her Creator, then how can I - who was formed in His image, and who was given understanding - not walk and recognize my Creator. Immediately, he went and converted. And he studied and became worthy of [teaching] Torah. And they called his name "Yochanan be Tortah" and [even] until today, our Rabbis have reported Halacha in his name. And if you will wonder how it came to be that a cow led one man to be gathered under the wings of the Divine Presence, in fact, on the account of a cow all of Israel became pure as we read concerning [the Red Heifer] "This is the statute of the Torah" (Numbers 19:2)....