34 Where, on the other hand, one man paints a picture on another's
board, some think that the board belongs, by accession, to the painter,
others, that the painting, however great its excellence, becomes part of
the board. The former appears to us the better opinion, for it is absurd
that a painting by Apelles or Parrhasius should be an accessory of a
board which, in itself, is thoroughly worthless. Hence, if the owner
of the board has possession of the picture, and is sued for it by the
painter, who nevertheless refuses to pay the cost of the board, he will
be able to repel him by the plea of fraud. If, on the other hand, the
painter has possession, it follows from what has been said that the
former owner of the board, [if he is to be able to sue at all], must
claim it by a modified and not by a direct action; and in this case,
if he refuses to pay the cost of the picture, he can be repelled by the
plea of fraud, provided that the possession of the painter be in good
faith; for it is clear, that if the board was stolen by the painter, or
some one else, from its former owner, the latter can bring the action of
theft.
35 If a man in good faith buys land from another who is not its owner,
though he believed he was, or acquires it in good faith by gift or some
other lawful title, natural reason directs that the fruits which he has
gathered shall be his, in consideration of his care and cultivation:
consequently if the owner subsequently appears and claims the land by
real action, he cannot sue for fruits which the possessor has consumed.
This, however, is not allowed to one who takes possession of land which
to his knowledge belongs to another person, and therefore he is obliged
not only to restore the land, but to make compensation for fruits even
though they have been consumed.
36 A person who has a usufruct in land does not become owner of
the fruits which grow thereon until he has himself gathered them;
consequently fruits which, at the moment of his decease, though ripe,
are yet ungathered, do not belong to his heir, but to the owner of the
land. What has been said applies also in the main to the lessee of land.
37 The term 'fruits,' when used of animals, comprises their young,
as well as milk, hair, and wool; thus lambs, kids, calves, and foals,
belong at once, by the natural law of ownership, to the fructuary.
But the term does not include the offspring of a female slave, which
consequently belongs to her master; for it seemed absurd to reckon human
beings as fruits, when it is for their sake that all other fruits have
been provided by nature.
38 The usufructuary of a flock, as Julian held, ought to replace any of
the animals which die from the young of the rest, and, if his usufruct
be of land, to replace dead vines or trees; for it is his duty to
cultivate according to law and use them like a careful head of a family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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