Day 107: Burn Before Mother Reads It

Dialogue

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1. 1
   A

   Mamo, niech mama zobaczy, co leżało w skrzyni na strychu: listy z Chicago, pisane tak, jak gdyby pisał je Sienkiewicz.

   Mum, look what was lying in the chest in the attic: letters from Chicago, written as if Sienkiewicz himself had written them.

   Line 1
2. 2
   B

   O, to pisoł dziadek mojego chłopa, kie robił w Chicago w rzeźni. Pisać go ucył organista, to i słowa mo ksiązkowe.

   Oh, that's my husband's grandfather writing, from when he worked at a slaughterhouse in Chicago. It was the organist who taught him to write, so his words come straight out of a book.

   Line 2
3. 3
   A

   Niech mama posłucha: „Najmilsza Żono, donoszę Ci, iż jestem zdrów, czego i Tobie życzę. Posyłam pięćdziesiąt dolarów, przeto kup krowę”.

   Listen to this: 'My dearest Wife, I hereby inform you that I am in good health, which I wish for you also. I am sending fifty dollars, therefore buy a cow.'

   Line 3
4. 4
   B

   Dyć za te dolary kupili pierwsom krowe. A nasa Krasula to z jej rodu, jakby kto pytoł.

   Why, they bought the family's first cow with those dollars. And our Krasula comes from her line, in case anyone's asking.

   Line 4
5. 5
   A

   Dalej jest lepiej: „Matce mojej wszelako ani centa nie dawaj, albowiem wszystko przepuści na odpustach”. Pradziadek trzymał stronę żony, a nie własnej matki!

   It gets better: 'To my mother, however, give not one cent, for she will squander it all at church fairs.' Great-grandad took his wife's side, not his own mother's!

   Line 5
6. 6
   B

   Pocekojcie, to nie koniec. Ta najmilso zona to była babka mojego chłopa, a kie jo sie tu wydała, trzymała całom chałupe krótko.

   Wait, that's not the end of it. That 'dearest wife' was my husband's grandmother, and when I married into this house, she kept the whole household on a short leash.

   Line 6
7. 7
   A

   Czyli ta biedna synowa z listu wyrosła na teściową, przed którą pradziadek ostrzegałby w następnym liście?

   So the poor daughter-in-law in the letter grew into just the sort of mother-in-law great-grandad would have warned about in his next letter?

   Line 7
8. 8
   B

   Ano. Ucyła mnie gazdować tak, ze do dziś, kie krowe doje, słyse nad uchem: „Nie tak, dziewcyno, nie tak”.

   She did. She taught me to run the farm so thoroughly that to this day, when I milk the cow, I can hear her over my shoulder: 'Not like that, girl, not like that.'

   Line 8
9. 9
   A

   A na końcu dopisek: „List ten spal, nim matka go przeczyta”. Tymczasem prababcia go nie spaliła, tylko schowała do skrzyni, gdzie przeleżał ponad sto lat.

   And there's a postscript at the end: 'Burn this letter before Mother reads it.' Yet instead of burning it, great-grandma put it away in the chest, where it lay for over a hundred years.

   Line 9
10. 10
    B

    Bo mądro baba była. Trzymała go na dnie skrzyni, coby mieć na świekre haka, jakby sie kiedy pokłóciły.

    Because she was a clever woman. She kept it at the bottom of the chest so she'd have something on her mother-in-law, in case they ever fell out.

    Line 10
11. 11
    A

    To ja sobie też jeden list schowam. Na wszelki wypadek, gdyby mama kiedyś chciała i mnie trzymać krótko.

    Then I'll put one letter away for myself too. Just in case you ever want to keep me on a short leash as well.

    Line 11
12. 12
    B

    Hej, bedzie z wos jesce góralka pełnom gębom! Ino schowojcie go w innej skrzyni, bo do tej jo tyz zaglądom.

    Well, well, you'll be a highlander through and through yet! Only hide it in another chest, because I look in this one too.

    Line 12