Day 36: The Bear Grows Every Year
In their kitchen in Bukowina Tatrzańska, on the eve of the Sabałowe Bajania festival of highland storytellers, Staś (A), nine, sits as a one-boy jury while his father Józek (B) rehearses his tale in the Podhale dialect.
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
Tato, zaczynaj. Ja jestem jury i daję punkty od jednego do dziesięciu.
Go on, Dad, start. I'm the jury, and I give points from one to ten.
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B
Hej, posłuchojcie, ludzie. Kie pradziadek był juhasem na holi, wylozł ku niemu z lasu niedźwiedź wielgi jak stodoła.
Hey, listen, good people. When my great-grandad was a young shepherd up on the mountain pasture, a bear as big as a barn came crawling out of the forest towards him.
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A
Stop, minus punkt! W zeszłym roku to był wilk, i to mały.
Stop, minus one point! Last year it was a wolf, and a small one.
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B
Bo przez rok urós, jak kozdy porządny zwierz. Bajanie to nie telewizja, synku: tu prowda musi być piykniejso niz w zyciu.
That's because it's grown in a year, like any decent beast. A tall tale isn't the telly, son: here the truth has to be finer than in real life.
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A
Dobra, to co było dalej? Tylko szybko, bo zaraz leci moja bajka.
OK, so what happened next? Just hurry up, because my cartoon's on in a minute.
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B
Niedźwiedź wlozł do koliby i zacon chrapać przy watrze. Pradziadek, nim sie na dobre zbudził, wzion go za ucho i wyprowadził na pole jak cielaka.
The bear crawled into the shepherds' hut and started snoring by the fire. Before great-grandad was even properly awake, he took it by the ear and led it outside like a calf.
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A
Tato, niedźwiedzie są pod ochroną! Pan strażnik mówił w szkole, że nie wolno się do nich zbliżać.
Dad, bears are protected! The park ranger said at school that you mustn't go near them.
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B
Juści, ino pradziadek ustawy nie cytoł, bo cytać nie umioł. A niedźwiedź na odchodne pedzioł: „Bóg zapłać, gazdo”, jakby był z nasej wsi.
Sure, only great-grandad never read the law, because he couldn't read. And as it left, the bear said, 'God repay you, master', as if it came from our village.
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A
Niedźwiedzie nie mówią, minus dwa! A mogę opowiedzieć, jak uciekałeś przed krową na drzewo?
Bears can't talk, minus two! Can I tell the one where you ran up a tree to get away from a cow?
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B
Hej, o krowie ani słowa, bo cało wieś bedzie sie śmiać do Wielkanocy. Cheba ze powies, ze to była niedźwiedzica z trojgiem małych.
Hey, not a word about the cow, or the whole village will be laughing till Easter. Unless you say it was a she-bear with three cubs.
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A
Niedźwiedzica z trojgiem małych? Tato, to jest dziesięć punktów!
A she-bear with three cubs? Dad, that's a ten!
Your progress is saved in this browser only, with no sign-up. The course page and the menu show where you left off. Well done! Next up: Day 37: Undercover at the Christmas Market
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