I heard the following story recently (though I paraphrase, and may have some details wrong):
When Rabbi M'nachem Perr lived in Queens, New York, he had an Italian, non-Jewish neighbor who, during one period, was gradually moving the boundary between their two properties farther and farther into Rabbi Perr's property. Rabbi Perr's wife and son, Y'chiel, were incensed, though Rabbi Perr, himself, didn't mind. Y'chiel decided to go out each week to measure the Perrs' yard, doing so while the neighbor was watching, to make a point. On one such occasion, the neighbor called him over and told him a story:
There were two Jews arguing over a bit of land. They went to the rabbi, who heard their case and said that it was a very difficult case and he would have to ask the land for its adjudication. They went to the land, and he put his ear to it. Then he told the litigants: "You say 'the land is mine' and you say 'the land is mine', but the land says 'in just a short while they will both be mine'."
The Italian neighbor concluded: "And do you know where I heard that story? From your father! It's from the Talmud!"
Is it really from the Talmud? Where in the Talmud (or what's its source otherwise)?