Ad Dig. 8,2,4Windscheid: Lehrbuch des Pandektenrechts, 7. Aufl. 1891, Bd. I, § 211a, Note 8.Paulus, Institutes, Book II. Where a servitude of lights is created, it is held that what is acquired is that a neighbor must not interfere with our lights, but if the servitude imposed is to prevent the obscuring of lights, we seem to have especially acquired the right that a neighbor shall not raise his building any higher against our will, so as to lessen the amount of light in our house.

Paulus, Institutes, Book II. The nature of obligations does not consist in the fact that they render some property or some servitude ours, but that they require us to give something, to do something, or to be responsible for something. 1In the case of a loan in order for the obligation to be contracted it is not sufficient for the money merely to be given and received, but it must be given and received with the understanding that this will be the case. Therefore, if anyone gives his money to me as a donation, although it belongs to the donor, and passes into my hands, still I am not liable to him for it, because this was not our intention. 2A verbal obligation is also contracted, if this was the intention of the parties; for instance, if I should say to you by way of jest, or for the purpose of explaining what a stipulation is, “Do you promise me So-and-So?” and you answer, “I do promise,” an obligation will not arise.