Day 103: Read to the Last Stanza
In Olga's flat in Pabianice, on the eve of their mother's second wedding, Sara (A) tries out on her older sister Olga (B) the poem she wants to read in her toast to Mum and her fiancé, Mr Bogusław.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Polish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Polish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Mam wiersz na toast! Szymborska: „Nic dwa razy się nie zdarza i nie zdarzy”. Piękne, co?
I've got a poem for the toast! Szymborska: 'Nothing happens twice, and nothing ever will.' Beautiful, isn't it?
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B
Na weselu, na którym oboje stają na ślubnym kobiercu po raz drugi? Pan Bogusław będzie zachwycony, a jego troje dzieci tym bardziej.
At a wedding where both of them are walking down the aisle for the second time? Mr Bogusław will be thrilled, and his three children even more so.
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A
O rany, faktycznie. Byłabym to wyrecytowała przy stu gościach, gdybyś mnie nie zatrzymała.
Oh gosh, you're right. I'd have recited it in front of a hundred guests if you hadn't stopped me.
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B
Weź lepiej Kochanowskiego. Fraszki są krótkie, a Jan z Czarnolasu jeszcze nikomu wesela nie zepsuł.
Take Kochanowski instead. His epigrams are short, and the bard of Czarnolas has never spoilt anyone's wedding yet.
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A
Proszę bardzo, fraszka „Na zdrowie”, w sam raz do toastu: „Ślachetne zdrowie, nikt się nie dowie, jako smakujesz, aż się zepsujesz”.
Here you go, the epigram 'To Health', just right for a toast: 'Noble health, no one will know how sweet you taste until you spoil.'
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B
Nowożeńcom po sześćdziesiątce, z których jedno ma rozrusznik, a drugie nowe kolano? Brzmi jak ulotka z przychodni.
To newlyweds over sixty, one of whom has a pacemaker and the other a new knee? It sounds like a leaflet from the health centre.
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A
No to wracam do Szymborskiej, bo tym razem przeczytałam cały wiersz. Ostatnia zwrotka brzmi, jakby ją napisała o nich obojgu.
Then I'm going back to Szymborska, because this time I read the whole poem. The last stanza sounds as if she'd written it about the two of them.
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B
Dawaj. Ale jeśli znowu wyjdzie coś o przemijaniu, toast wygłaszam ja.
Go on, then. But if it turns out to be about transience again, I'm giving the toast.
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A
„Uśmiechnięci, wpółobjęci spróbujemy szukać zgody, choć różnimy się od siebie jak dwie krople czystej wody”.
'Smiling, our arms half around each other, we'll try to seek agreement, although we differ from each other like two drops of pure water.'
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B
No proszę, zupełnie jak oni: oboje uparci, oboje po polonistyce i od pół roku kłócą się o przecinki w zaproszeniach. Dobra, wygrałaś.
Well, look at that, it's them all over: both stubborn, both Polish literature graduates, and they've been arguing about the commas in the invitations for six months. OK, you win.
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A
Pierwszy wers też zostawię, z puentą: skoro nic dwa razy się nie zdarza, drugiego takiego pana Bogusława mama już nie znajdzie.
I'll keep the first line too, with a punchline: since nothing happens twice, Mum will never find a second Mr Bogusław.
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