You must not raise an objection from our practice of imposing a fine in such cases. "As he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again" (Lev. And he who mutilated a limb of his neighbour, must himself lose a limb. We must take life for life, and estimate equally the life of a child and that of a grown-up person, of a slave and of a freeman, of a wise man and of a fool. Hence even if the murdered person continued to live after the attack for an hour or for days, was able to speak and possessed complete consciousness, and if he himself said, "Pardon my murderer, I have pardoned and forgiven him," he must not be obeyed. "And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it" (Num. Only to the murderer we must not be lenient because of the greatness of his crime and no ransom must be accepted of him. But the person whose property has been damaged should be ready to resign his claim totally or partly. The punishment of him who sins against his neighbour consists in the general rule that there shall be done unto him exactly as he has done: if he injured any one personally, he must suffer personally if he damaged the property of his neighbour, he shall be punished by loss of property. Rambam in Guide for the Perplexed 3:41 writes: