10/3/04

“elatus est” seems like it would be translated as “he [Atticus] is happy”. Not “he is elated”, since the Latin teacher dislikes the mere substitution of English words for Latin. Considering that it was the final line of the final chapter of the final assignment before bed, it did not seem to be worth thinking further about.

However, as revealed to embarrassing laughter, “elatus” is from ex + latum = carried out. This makes more than a slight difference, as Atticus was, at that moment, dead. The fact that he would have been pleased with his funeral arrangements isn’t worth protesting.