Day 44: The Water Waiteth Not
In Kłodzko, with the Nysa Kłodzka flooding the lower town, Damian (A), a young volunteer firefighter, pulls up in a dinghy under the first-floor window of Mrs Irena (B), a retired resident who keeps the town chronicle.
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
Pani Ireno, ponton czeka pod oknem! Woda przybiera o kilkanaście centymetrów na godzinę, a sztab kryzysowy zarządził ewakuację.
Mrs Irena, the dinghy's waiting under your window! The water's rising by more than ten centimetres an hour, and the crisis team has ordered an evacuation.
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B
Widzę, panie Damianie, widzę, albowiem od świtu spisuję wszystko do kroniki miasta.
I see, Damian, I see, for since daybreak I have been recording it all for the town chronicle.
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A
Kronika poczeka, a rzeka niestety nie. Pod mostem już się nie mieści.
The chronicle can wait, but the river, unfortunately, can't. It won't fit under the bridge any more.
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B
Nie godzi się kronikarce uciekać w pół zdania. Tedy niechaj pan poczeka, aż skończę akapit o dzielnej straży ogniowej.
It ill befits a chronicler to flee mid-sentence. Wait, therefore, until I have finished the paragraph about the gallant fire brigade.
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A
Dzielna straż ogniowa stoi po pas w wodzie i ma jeszcze sześć adresów. Dokończy pani w remizie, przy herbacie i agregacie.
The gallant fire brigade is up to its waist in water and has six more addresses to get to. You can finish at the fire station, with tea and a generator.
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B
Wszelako bez Mruczka i kroniki nie ruszę się stąd. Piszę ją od czterdziestu lat, przeto rzece jej nie oddam.
Be that as it may, without Mruczek and the chronicle I shall not stir from here. I have been writing it for forty years, and so I shall not surrender it to the river.
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A
Kot płynie z nami, kronika też, w worku foliowym. Wypadałoby jednak ruszać, zanim woda sięgnie parapetu.
The cat's coming with us, and so is the chronicle, in a plastic bag. But we really ought to get moving before the water reaches the windowsill.
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B
Jeszcze jedno zdanie, zaklinam pana. Jak to ująć, by potomni wiedzieli, iż ratownik był uprzejmy, acz nieustępliwy?
One more sentence, I beseech you. How shall I put it, so that posterity knows the rescuer was courteous, albeit unyielding?
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A
Tedy niechaj pani pisze: „I rzekł druh Damian: wsiadać, albowiem woda nie czeka”. A teraz poproszę kota.
Then write thus: 'And thus spake Firefighter Damian: into the boat, for the water waiteth not.' And now the cat, please.
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B
Zaiste, pięknie pan to ujął! W dziewięćdziesiątym siódmym ratownicy tak nie mówili, jeno wiosłowali.
Verily, beautifully put! In ninety-seven the rescuers didn't talk like that; they only rowed.
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A
Wiosłować też umiem, zaraz pani zobaczy. Tylko proszę nie pisać, że ratownik, przemoczony do suchej nitki, wiosłował z kotem na głowie.
I can row too, you'll see in a minute. Just please don't write that the rescuer, soaked to the skin, rowed with a cat on his head.
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