[MARCELLUS libro quarto digestorum. ] §8.2.10.prGaurus Marcello: binas aedes habeo, alteras tibi lego, heres aedes alteras altius tollit et luminibus tuis officit: quid cum illo agere potes? et an interesse putes, suas aedes altius tollat an hereditarias? et de illo quaero, an per alienas aedes accessum heres ad eam rem quae legatur praestare debet, sicut solet quaeri, cum usus fructus loci legatus est, ad quem locum accedi nisi per alienum non potest.
[MARCELLUS in the fourth book of the Digests.] Gaurus to Marcellus: I have two houses, and I bequeath one of them to you; the heir builds the other house higher and obstructs your light: what action can you bring against him? And do you think it makes a difference whether he builds his own house higher or the one belonging to the inheritance? And I also ask this: must the heir provide access through another's house to the property which is bequeathed, just as it is usually asked when the usufruct of a place is bequeathed, to which place access cannot be had except through another's property?
Marcellus respondit: qui binas aedes habebat, si alteras legauit, non dubium est, quin heres alias possit altius tollendo obscurare lumina legatarum aedium: idem dicendum est, si alteri aedes, alteri aliarum usum fructum legauerit.
Marcellus answered: If someone who owned two houses bequeathed one of them, there is no doubt that the heir can, by building the other higher, obstruct the light of the bequeathed house. The same must be said if he bequeathed the house to one person, and the usufruct of the other house to another.
non autem semper simile est itineris argumentum, quia sine accessu nullum est fructus legatum, habitare autem potest et aedibus obscuratis.
However, the argument regarding access is not always similar, because without access a legacy of usufruct is null, whereas one can still inhabit a house even if its light is obstructed.
ceterum usu fructu loci legato etiam accessus dandus est, quia et haustu relicto iter quoque ad hauriendum praestaretur.
Furthermore, when the usufruct of a place is bequeathed, access must also be granted, because if a right to draw water is left, a way to draw it would also be provided.
sed ita officere luminibus et obscurare legatas aedes conceditur, ut non penitus lumen recludatur, sed tantum relinquatur, quantum sufficit habitantibus in usus diurni moderatione.
But obstructing the light and darkening the bequeathed house is permitted in such a way that the light is not completely shut out, but as much is left as is sufficient for the inhabitants in the moderation of daily use.