Rabbi Yehuda (Nesia)'s Antechamber
A quick note. In yesterday’s daf (Bava Kamma 19) we saw:
יָתֵיב רַבִּי יְהוּדָה נְשִׂיאָה וְרַבִּי אוֹשַׁעְיָא אַקִּילְעָא דְּרַבִּי יְהוּדָה, נְפַק מִילְּתָא מִבֵּינַיְיהוּ: כִּשְׁכְּשָׁה בִּזְנָבָהּ, מַהוּ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ אִידַּךְ: וְכִי יֹאחֲזֶנָּה בִּזְנָבָהּ וְיֵלֵךְ?! אִי הָכִי, קֶרֶן נָמֵי, נֵימָא: וְכִי יֹאחֲזֶנָּה בְּקֶרֶן וְיֵלֵךְ?!
§ The Gemara relates that Rabbi Yehuda Nesia and Rabbi Oshaya sat in the antechamber [akil’a] of Rabbi Yehuda Nesia. A matter emerged from among them and one of them raised a dilemma: If an animal swung its tail and thereby caused damage, what is the halakha? The other Sage said to him: Must the owner grasp its tail and walk to prevent the animal from causing damage? Since this is typical behavior for the animal, the owner should be exempt from liability. The Gemara asks: If so, with regard to damage in the category of Goring, too, let us say: Must the owner grasp its horn and walk to prevent the animal from causing damage? Nevertheless, the halakha is that the owner is liable for damage in the category of Goring.
This is correct, and Artscroll has the same, that the antechamber belonged to Yehuda Nesia, not to the fifth-generation Tanna, Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Illai.
The printings have just Rabbi Yehuda.
However, all manuscripts have אַקִּילְעָא דְּרַבִּי יְהוּדָה נְשִׂיאָה.
Here is an example, Vatican 116:
Presumably, what happened is that some scribe omitted the second occurrence of נְשִׂיאָה. This was either through sheer accident, or because they reasoned through it. Namely, the typical pattern is that X and Y visit Z, who is not X or Y. And אַקִּילְעָא, in the antechamber, relates to and appears similar to the word אִקְּלַעוּ, they visited, such as in Shabbat 48a:
רַבָּה וְרַבִּי זֵירָא אִיקְּלַעוּ לְבֵי רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא. חַזְיוּהּ לְהָהוּא עַבְדָּא דְּאַנַּח כּוּזָא דְמַיָּא אַפּוּמָּא דְקוּמְקוּמָא. נַזְהֵיהּ רַבָּה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי זֵירָא: מַאי שְׁנָא מִמֵּיחַם עַל גַּבֵּי מֵיחַם? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הָתָם אוֹקוֹמֵי קָא מוֹקֵים, הָכָא אוֹלוֹדֵי קָא מוֹלֵיד.
The Gemara relates an anecdote somewhat relevant to the previous discussion: Rabba and Rabbi Zeira happened to come to the house of the Exilarch on Shabbat, and saw this servant who placed a jug [kuza] of cold water on the mouth of a kettle filled with hot water. Rabba rebuked him for having acted contrary to the halakha. Rabbi Zeira said to Rabba: How is this case different from placing an urn on top of another urn, which is permitted on Shabbat? Rabba said to him: There, when he places one urn on top of another urn, he merely preserves the heat in the upper urn; therefore, it is permitted. Here, in the case where he places the jug of cold water on the mouth of a kettle, he is generating heat in the water in the upper vessel; therefore, it is prohibited.
If Rabbi Yehuda Nesia (the Prince) is mentioned, then this second mention of Rabbi Yehuda must be a different, earlier figure.
However, there is Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi , with the title in Hebrew, who is typically the sixth-generation Tanna, and (Rabbi) Yehuda Nesia, with the title in Aramaic, who is the former’s grandson. We are dealing with the grandson, so we would not expect him to be at a fifth-generation Tanna’s entranceway.