benignus /  by Anthony Gibbins

One of the things you’ll notice about the way Pico experiences Legonium – and indeed, about Legonium in general – is that many people are benignus. So let’s look a little closer at this word. benignus, first of all, is an adjective. According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary it equates to the following words in English; kind, beneficent, open-handed, generous, liberal, lenient and equitable. When describing an object, such as a meal, journey, fountain or wind, it equates to beneficial, favorable, copious and abundant.

Like most Latin adjectives benignus has a comparative form – benignior – meaning ‘more benignus’ and a superlative form – benignissimus – meaning ‘very or most benignus’. Within the same family there are two adverbs – benigne and benigniter – that equate to ‘in a kindly manner’ and the noun benignitas, which equates to ‘kindness’ or ‘generosity’.

A few students have pointed out to me that giving milk to a cat is not really a kindness, due to their intolerance for lactose. I, however, could not resist including this old trope. You can buy lactose free milk specially for cats, but the best thing for them is water.

Moreoever, the man who runs the laundromat is very kind (here valde benignus = benignissimus). Every day he gives milk to Pico and often pats him.

sapo spumaque /  by Anthony Gibbins

sapo spumaque is my attempt to translate the name of the laundromat, Soap n Suds. Soap (sapo) is easy enough. spuma, however, more correctly means ‘froth’ than ‘suds’, and refers to liquid mixed with air rather than with washing powder. According to the 1874 classic, A Copious and Critical English-Latin Dictionary by William Smith and Theophilus D. Hall, the best translation of ‘suds’ is aqua sapone infecta. But sapo aquaque sapone infecta makes for a poor store name.

I really like the verb calefacio, calefacere, calefeci, calefactum. It is a combination of the verb facere (to make) and the adjective calidus (warm, hot). It means ‘to make warm’. The word for ‘cold’, by the way, is frigidus.

One last thing. lavatoriae is an adjective meaning ‘having to do with washing’. It is here describing the machinae.

Every day in the morning Pico spends time in the laundromat. This is most pleasing to him because the washing machines make the air warm there.

Part 6057751 /  by Anthony Gibbins

Just for fun, here is an introduction (or not) to the meta-language of Lego. Firstly, this ‘piece’ is a ‘part’. And this part? Part 6057751. Also known as Cat No. 2. It was first introduced in 2015 and its colour is officially listed as Dark Orange. The part itself is filed under System: Animals and Creatures.

Part 6057751 has appeared in four sets since its inception. It’s first appearance was in Set 40125: Santa’s Visit, a Seasonal Christmas Vignette. The cat is waiting by the fireplace for Santa to arrive. Its second appearance was in Set 10684: Supermarket Suitcase, a Juniors set that also came with a lot of bread, ice-cream and flowers. I got mine in Set 10246: Detective’s Office, which is classified as a Modular Building. It’s the set with the Highlander, Al’s barber shop and the mysterious rooftop hangout. Finally, it has appeared once this year in Set 76052: Batman Classic TV Series Batcave, which is a 2,526 part Batcave based on the 60’s tv-show. Here is a link, in case you want to check it out (http://brickset.com/sets/76052-1/Batman-Classic-TV-Series-Batcave). Apparently they had a cat.

Part 6057751 also appeared with one Collectable Minifigure from the Lego Movie series, that is 71004: Mrs. Scratchen-Post. I recently ordered one of these on e-bay. I needed the long grey hair and I thought a back-up Pico wouldn’t be as bad idea. Speaking of online shopping, you can pick up a pre-owned but mint-condition Pico on Bricklink.com for under a dollar. The Brick Strikes Back (France) has the cheapest, but if you are going for quantity U.S Bricks has 4,247 of them. Wow!

Okay, I think we are done here. Have a great day! Here is the translation. 

Pico, in my opinion, is an excellent cat. Today I want to tell you a story about a usual solito day in the delightful iucunda life of Pico the cat.

 

Pico advenit /  by Anthony Gibbins

Welcome to the third part of Legonium. My apologies if this episode has seemed over-hyped, but the truth is I’ve been quite impatient to share it with you. Pico, you see, is the name of my wife’s most-excellent cat, who sadly passed this year. This episode is a celebration of his life, and an attempt to capture something of his character. I originally put Pico into pars prima (I’ve included the page bellow), but it was Beth’s idea that her cat could be a star of his own pars. This is the result.

Hello reader. How are you? In the first part of my story, you heard about a cat standing on the roof of Marcellus, named Pico.

One More Sleep /  by Anthony Gibbins

So that's the end of the The Wooden Horse. Tomorrow Pico will be released on Legonium.com. I can't imagine that anyone is nearly as excited about this as I am. Do people on the internet even like cats?

The Fall of Troy or The Wooden Horse Part 12 of 12 /  by Anthony Gibbins

The Wooden Horse. Part 12. As we await the October 1 arrival of Legonium pars tertia, here is some complete nonsense in 12 parts.

From the translation of The Aeneid, Book II by John Dryden

Now peals of shouts come thund'ring from afar,

Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war:

The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood

Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood.

Louder, and yet more loud, I hear th' alarms

Of human cries distinct, and clashing arms.

Fear broke my slumbers; I no longer stay,

But mount the terrace, thence the town survey,

And hearken what the frightful sounds convey.

 

tum : tum, as we have already seen, is an adverb meaning ‘then’.

reliqui Graeci : reliquus Graecus, as we have also already seen, means ‘left over Greek’. We last met the reliqui Graeci (those who did not board the horse) when they sailed off to Tenedos. Now they have returned to be the plural nominative subjects of this sentence.

urbem : urbs is a feminine noun meaning ‘city’. Here it is in its singular (there is but one Troy) accusative form. It is the object of the verb.

Troiam : Troia is the Latin name for the city Troy. It is in the accusative case so that, along with urbem, it can be the object of the verb. It is interesting to note that, where English would say ‘the city of Troy’, Latin prefers ‘the city Troy’, although we can understand it either way.

expugnant : expugnare is a verb that means ‘to storm’ or ‘to conquer’. Here it is in the present tense, despite describing a past action, to create a sense of excitement. It is third person plural as its subject, reliqui Graeci, requires this. Its object is urbem Troiam.

Translation: Then the other Greeks storm the city of Troy.

Kylo’s Return! or The Wooden Horse Part 11 of 12 /  by Anthony Gibbins

The Wooden Horse. Part 11. As we await the October 1 arrival of Legonium pars tertia, here is some complete nonsense in 12 parts.

From the translation of The Aeneid, Book II by John Dryden

A nameless crowd succeed; their forces join

T' invade the town, oppress'd with sleep and wine.

Those few they find awake first meet their fate;

Then to their fellows they unbar the gate.

 

custodes : custos is another noun that takes its gender from the actual gender of the individual. It means guard. custodes is plural. It is nominative, to indicate that it is the subject.

portarum : porta is a feminine noun meaning ‘gate’. portarum is plural to indicate the presence of multiple gates (despite what the picture might suggest). It is in the genitive case, indicating that it means ‘of the gates’.

sine : sine is a preposition that means ‘without’. It is always followed by a noun (or pronoun) in the ablative case.

mora : mora is a feminine noun meaning ‘delay’. Here it is singular and ablative. It is ablative to indicate that it forms a prepositional phrase together with sine.

occisi sunt : occidere is a verb that means ‘to kill’. occisi sunt is the only passive verb in this story. All the other verbs have been active. Passive verbs have a subject, just like active verbs, but with a passive verb the subject isn’t doing something, it is having something done to it. And in this case, it’s pretty nasty. occisi sunt is third person plural, because the subject custodes requires that. It is in the perfect tense, to indicate an action that was completed in the past.

Translation: The guards of the gates were slaughtered without delay.

From the Belly of the Beast! or The Wooden Horse Part 10 of 12 /  by Anthony Gibbins

The Wooden Horse. Part 10. As we await the October 1 arrival of Legonium pars tertia, here is some complete nonsense in 12 parts.

From the translation of The Aeneid, Book II by John Dryden

Meantime the rapid heav'ns roll'd down the light,

And on the shaded ocean rush'd the night;

Our men, secure, nor guards nor sentries held,

But easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.

The Grecians had embark'd their naval pow'rs

From Tenedos, and sought our well-known shores,

Safe under covert of the silent night,

And guided by th' imperial galley's light;

When Sinon, favor'd by the partial gods,

Unlock'd the horse, and op'd his dark abodes;

Restor'd to vital air our hidden foes,

Who joyful from their long confinement rose.

 

eadem : idem is another demonstrative adjective, this one meaning ‘the same’. Here it is feminine, singular and ablative to ‘agree with’ nocte.

nocte : nox is a feminine noun meaning ‘night’. Here it is in the ablative case. The ablative is capable of expressing a wide range of ideas. Here it is expressing the time when an action occurred. Together with eadem, eadem nocte can be understood as ‘on the same night’.

Graeci : Graecus we have seen to mean ‘Greek’ or ‘a Greek’. Here it is masculine and plural, meaning ‘the Greeks’. It is in the nominative case to indicate that it is the subject of the verb.

ex : ex is a preposition meaning ‘out of’. As for all prepositions, we must learn the case that follows ex. It is the ablative case.

equo : equus we are most familiar with, but here it appears for the first time in the ablative case. The ablative case indicates that equo is forming a prepositional phrase with ex. Together ex equo means ‘out of the horse’.

emergunt : emergere is a verb that means ‘to emerge’ or ‘to extricate one’s self.’ It is third person plural, because its subject is Graeci. It is in the present tense despite describing a past action, because the author wishes to create a sense of energy and excitement.

Translation: On the same night the Greeks emerged out of the horse.