Day 58: Supply, Demand and Palaeography
In a seminar room hung with facsimiles of medieval charters at the university in Siedlce, Ksawery (A), a third-year history student, answers an urgent summons from Professor Elżbieta Wawrzyniak (B), who teaches an elective in Latin palaeography.
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 profesor, dziekanat kazał mi się pilnie do pani zgłosić. Cóż takiego przeskrobałem?
Professor, the dean's office told me to report to you urgently. What on earth have I done?
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B
Nic, i w tym cały problem. Jest pan jedynym chętnym na moją paleografię, a poniżej pięciu osób kurs nie ruszy.
Nothing, and that's the whole problem. You're the only taker for my palaeography course, and with fewer than five people it won't run.
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A
Czyli los kursu w moich rękach. Przyprowadzę czterech kolegów z koła naukowego, ale nie za darmo.
So the fate of the course is in my hands. I'll bring four friends from the history society, but it'll cost you.
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B
Któż by pomyślał! Student, który przespał u mnie całe średniowiecze, stawia mi warunki. Słucham.
Well, who'd have thought it! A student who slept through the entire Middle Ages in my lectures is dictating terms to me. I'm listening.
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A
Czwartek po południu zamiast piątku o ósmej. Zaliczenie projektem, nie egzaminem. I wolne w juwenalia.
Thursday afternoons instead of Fridays at eight. A project to pass, not an exam. And no classes during Juwenalia, the student festival.
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B
Toż to szantaż! Czwartek i juwenalia przełknę, ale egzamin zostaje, choć pana kolokwium odcyfrowywałam dłużej niż czternastowieczne dokumenty.
Why, that's blackmail! I'll swallow Thursdays and Juwenalia, but the exam stays, even though your test took me longer to decipher than fourteenth-century charters.
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A
Szantaż? Gdzież tam, prawo popytu i podaży. Bez projektu koledzy wybiorą kuchnię staropolską, bo tam zaliczeniem jest degustacja.
Blackmail? Not at all, it's the law of supply and demand. Without the project my friends will pick Old Polish Cuisine, where the final assessment is a tasting.
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B
Przeczytawszy regulamin uważniej od pana, wiem, że za zgodą dziekana kurs może ruszyć nawet dla jednej osoby. Zgodę już mam.
Having read the regulations more carefully than you, I know that with the dean's consent a course can run even for one person. And I've already got that consent.
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A
Dla jednej? Czyli co piątek o ósmej sam na sam z panią i czternastym wiekiem?
For one? So every Friday at eight, alone with you and the fourteenth century?
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B
Otóż to. Chyba że do jutra namówi pan kolegów: wtedy czwartek, juwenalia i egzamin ustny, bo pana pisma nie odczytam.
Precisely. Unless you talk your friends round by tomorrow: then it's Thursdays, Juwenalia off and an oral exam, because I can't read your handwriting.
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A
Umowa stoi. Piszę do Miłosza: „Weźże się zapisz na paleografię i ściągnij jeszcze trzech, bo mam przechlapane”.
Deal. I'm texting Miłosz: 'Just sign up for palaeography already and rope in three more, or I'm toast.'
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 59: Forty Characters, One Carnation
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