and in that case no rent is due.

If someone seizes a trained hunting animal, a slave, or a horse and then uses it to hunt or to take spoils, whatever is caught or captured belongs to the rightful owner, and no hire is owed for the time of its use.

If the usurped silver bullion is coined, or is fashioned into jewellery, or the spun yarn is woven, or the cloth is shortened, or the timber is carved, or the grain grows into crops, or the egg hatches into a chick, or the date-stone sprouts into a tree, he must return the item together with compensation for any diminution. The usurper is entitled to nothing, whether the item has increased in value or on account of his labour. (1)(2)

If he castrates a slave, he must return him and also pay his full value; and if he cuts off the slave’s hand, he must return him and pay whichever is greater: the reduction in value or the statutory indemnity for the injury. He is not liable for a mere fall in market prices.

When the usurped property is mixed with an identical kind so that it can no longer be distinguished—such as oil with oil or wheat with wheat—they become joint owners; the same applies if he dyes a garment. He is liable for any decrease in value, but any increase belongs to its owner, and no one can be compelled to remove the dye.

If land is successfully reclaimed by its true owner and the buyer has to uproot his trees or demolish his building, he may recover what he spent from the seller. Any transaction carried out by a usurper concerning that land is void. The lawful owner may hold the usurper—and anyone to whom the property was transferred—liable. A fungible item that is destroyed must be replaced by its like, while a non-fungible item is compensated at its market value. (3)

The usurper’s word is accepted regarding the item itself, its quantity, and its description, but not as to any defect or whether he has returned it. If the owner is unknown, the usurper must give its value in charity on the owner’s behalf, while remaining liable for it. (4)

Whoever opens a cage, a door, a fastening, a tether, or a shackle and what it contained escapes, or he destroys