Day 26: Pardoned by the Kitchen
In a restaurant in Lublin's Old Town, Alicja (A), who has been studying the menu for a quarter of an hour, asks the waiter, Mateusz (B), to help her choose.
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
Od kwadransa waham się między forszmakiem a pierogami z kaszą. Co by pan polecił?
I've been torn between the forszmak and the buckwheat pierogi for a quarter of an hour. What would you recommend?
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B
Szczerze? Kierkegaard powiedziałby, że cokolwiek pani wybierze, i tak pani pożałuje.
Honestly? Kierkegaard would say that whatever you choose, you'll regret it anyway.
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A
Przyszłam na obiad, a nie na wykład z egzystencjalizmu. Jest pan kelnerem czy doradcą życiowym?
I came for lunch, not for a lecture on existentialism. Are you a waiter or a life coach?
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B
Kelnerem, z dyplomem magistra filozofii. Po filozofii można w Polsce zostać zarówno kelnerem, jak i starszym kelnerem.
A waiter, with a master's in philosophy. With a philosophy degree in Poland you can become both a waiter and a senior waiter.
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A
Wobec tego zastosuję brzytwę Ockhama: nie należy mnożyć bytów ponad potrzebę, więc biorę prostsze danie.
In that case I'll apply Occam's razor: entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity, so I'll have the simpler dish.
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B
Prostsze są pierogi, tylko że forszmak ma w sobie mięso, kiełbasę i kiszone ogórki, zatem jest ontologicznie bogatszy.
The pierogi are simpler, only the forszmak has meat, sausage and pickled cucumbers in it, so it's ontologically richer.
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A
Bogatszy i o osiem złotych droższy. Mimo to niech będzie forszmak, skoro tak go pan broni.
Richer, and eight złoty dearer. Even so, the forszmak it is, since you're defending it so fiercely.
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B
Sartre twierdził, że jesteśmy skazani na wolność, ale kuchnia właśnie panią ułaskawiła: forszmak się skończył.
Sartre said we are condemned to be free, but the kitchen has just pardoned you: the forszmak has run out.
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A
Czyli jednak determinizm, a Kierkegaard przegrał: niczego nie wybrałam, więc nie mam czego żałować. Poproszę pierogi.
So it's determinism after all, and Kierkegaard loses: I didn't choose anything, so I've got nothing to regret. The pierogi, please.
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