reading, reading and reading /  by Anthony Gibbins

This post is going to be the Latin grammar equivalent of a YouTube wormhole. You have been warned.

Let’s begin with a simple English sentence. ‘I want to read’. ‘I want’ is a Finite Verb; Finite because it has boundaries. Those boundaries are its Number and Person. Number is simple, Singular or Plural. ‘I want’ cannot mean ‘we want’. It just can’t. Person is a little more complicated. There is First Person (I or we), Second Person (you, you, youse or y’all) and Third Person (he, she, it or they). ‘I want’ doesn't mean ‘you want’. It just doesn't. ‘to read’ is not a Finite Verb. It is an Infinitive Verb. It just does not have the same boundaries. In Latin the entire sentence could be written cupio legere. (note the link between the verb ‘I want’ and Cupid, the God of Wanting).

Now, let’s move on to a second sentence. ‘It is good (bonum) to read’. In Latin this could be expressed bonum est legere. No problem here. Except, if you want to get technical, legere is no longer an Infinitive Verb. It is now a Gerund. And a Gerund is not a Verb at all, but a Noun. It makes sense, because if you were going to swap legere out for another word, it would be a Noun. A temple is good. bonum est templum. In English we can express the Gerund as ‘to read’ (as above) or as ‘reading’. Reading is good.

Now, I know what you are thinking. If the Gerund is a Noun, then surely it must have cases. And you would be right. In the sentence bonum est legere, legere is the Subject of the Verb and therefore in the Nominative Case. What, then, does the Gerund look like in, say, the Ablative Case? It looks like this; legendo. And the Gerund in the Ablative Case is a very useful thing. It can express the action by which something is achieved. For example, linguam Latinam legendo disco. I am learning (disco) the Latin language by reading.

I now want to finish up with a third and final sentence. ‘Do you see the children reading under the tree?’. In this sentence ‘reading’ is neither a Verb nor a Noun. It is a Participle. And a Participle is a kind of Adjective. ‘reading’ is describing the children. And in Latin we could express this as videsne pueros legentes sub arbore?

So legere, legendo and legentes can all be translated into English as ‘reading’ and yet all mean very different things. I bring all this up because today’s page has two Participles in it; praetereuntes (passing by) and custodientem (protecting). The first ends in –es because it is plural (describing people), the second in –em because it is singular (describing Miranda).

It pleases Pico to watch the people passing by. Do you see Miranda, the police officer (public guard), protecting the town?

lux solis /  by Anthony Gibbins

lux solis, or the light of the sun, is the only reason any of us are here. Short, tall, cheerful, glum, Democrat, Tory, rich, poor or middle-class, regardless of our skin colour, religious beliefs or who we love, whether we be hawks or doves, a feminist or that jerk who attacks a woman for expressing her opinions on the net. We are all the children of the sun.

Then, when the pavement has been warmed by the light of the sun, Pico hangs out for a while on the corner of the bank. 

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.