s, the loss falls upon him, though otherwise he incurs no liability:
and this is a rule which applies to all animals and other objects
whatsoever. The vendor, however, will be bound to transfer to the
purchaser all his rights of action for the recovery of the object or
damages, for, not having yet delivered it to the purchaser, he still
remains its owner, and the same holds good of the penal actions on theft
and on unlawful damage.

4 A sale may be made conditionally as well as absolutely. The following
is an example of a conditional sale: 'If Stichus meets with your
approval within a certain time, he shall be purchased by you for so many
aurei.'

5 If a man buys a piece of land which is sacred, religious, or public,
such as a forum or basilica, knowing it to be such, the purchase is
void. But if the vendor has fraudulently induced him to believe that
what he was buying was not sacred, or was private property, as he cannot
legally have what he contracted for, he can bring the action on purchase
to recover damages for what he has lost by the fraud; and the same rule
applies to the purchase of a free man represented by the vendor to be a
slave.

TITLE XXIV. OF LETTING AND HIRING

The contract of hire resembles very closely the contract of sale, and
the same rules of law apply to both. Thus, as the contract of sale is
concluded as soon as the price is agreed upon, so the contract of hire
is held to be concluded as soon as the sum to be paid for the hiring is
settled, and from that moment the letter has an action on the letting,
and the hirer on the hiring.

1 What we have said above as to a sale in which the price is left to be
fixed by a third person must be understood to apply also to a contract
of hire in which the amount to be paid for hire is left to be fixed in
the same way. Consequently, if a man gives clothes to a fuller to clean
or finish, or to a tailor to mend, and the amount of hire is not fixed
at the time, but left to subsequent agreement between the parties, a
contract of hire cannot properly be said to have been concluded, but
an action is given on the circumstances, as amounting to an innominate
contract.

2 Again, a question often arose in connexion with the contract of hire
similar to that which was so common, namely, whether an exchange was a
sale. For instance, what is the nature of the transaction if a man gives
you the use or enjoyment of a thing, and receives in return the use or
enjoy