In order to stress how much a person has to refrain from an excess of mundane speech, Rav Bunim of Peshischa zy”a would relate that one year, in the middle of hakafos on Simchas Torah, the word “kessel” (hot water urn) fell into his mind. This bothered him very much, as he had no idea why this mundane word had come to mind at such a sanctified time. He knew there must be a reason for this, and he exerted much effort to return his thoughts to be solely focused on holy matters.
After yomtov, a villager came to him and related, “The thieves returned my kessel!”
Rav Bunim then recalled that this villager had come to him during the summer and bemoaned the fact that his urn had been stolen. At that time, Rav Bunim’s mouth opened and emitted the words, “The stolen item will be returned to you during hakafos.” He then immediately forgot about the entire matter.
Rav Bunim said, “Now I understand. Since my mouth uttered an unintelligible thing in the eyes of the world, I was punished by having a mundane thought come into my mind during hakafos.”
Upon relating this story, he would say, “You see from this how much one must watch his words.”
