Day 73 of 105

Day 73: A Week Too Soon

On a tram in Szczecin, Mr Edward (A), an elderly passenger, asks Laura (B), the young woman sitting opposite him, to read him the poem on a poster above the window.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. A

    Przepraszam panią, zapomniałem okularów. Mogłaby mi pani przeczytać ten wiersz nad oknem?

    Excuse me, I've forgotten my glasses. Could you read me that poem above the window?

  2. B

    Proszę: „Byłbym wysiadł za tobą na placu Rodła, gdybym był wiedział, że tramwaje nie wracają”. Piękne, tylko kto dziś tak pisze?

    Here you are: 'I would have got off after you at Plac Rodła, had I but known that trams never come back.' Beautiful, only who writes like that these days?

  3. A

    Ktoś, kto miał wtedy dwadzieścia dwa lata i uważał, że im bardziej staroświecko, tym bardziej poetycko.

    Someone who was twenty-two at the time and thought that the more old-fashioned it sounded, the more poetic it was.

  4. B

    Zaraz, to pan jest autorem? I pewnie ma pan okulary w kieszeni.

    Hang on, you wrote it? And I bet you've got your glasses in your pocket.

  5. A

    W wewnętrznej. Byłbym się od razu przedstawił, ale po pół wieku chciałem usłyszeć, jak ten wiersz brzmi w cudzych ustach.

    The inside one. I would have introduced myself straight away, but after half a century I wanted to hear how the poem sounds in someone else's voice.

  6. B

    Brzmi jak żal na całe życie. Ta dziewczyna naprawdę wysiadła, a pan nie odważył się pójść za nią?

    It sounds like a lifetime of regret. Did that girl really get off, and you didn't dare follow her?

  7. A

    Nie odważyłem się. Odprowadziwszy ją wzrokiem, pojechałem do akademika i do rana pisałem ten wiersz.

    I didn't dare. Having watched her go, I went back to the halls of residence and wrote that poem till morning.

  8. B

    I nigdy jej pan nie spotkał? Proszę uważać, bo nie chcę wysiadać zapłakana.

    And you never saw her again? Careful, I don't want to get off this tram in tears.

  9. A

    Spotkałem po tygodniu, bo jeździłem tą linią od świtu do nocy. Od czterdziestu dziewięciu lat jest moją żoną.

    I found her a week later, because I rode this line from dawn till dusk. She's been my wife for forty-nine years.

  10. B

    To czemu wiersz jest o straconej szansie? Gdyby pan był poczekał z nim tydzień, byłby pan napisał coś wesołego.

    Then why is the poem about a lost chance? If you'd held off for a week, you'd have written something cheerful.

  11. A

    Wesołych wierszy nikt nie wiesza w tramwajach. A żona i tak ma do mnie żal, bo w wierszu dałem jej czerwony beret, a miała zielony.

    Nobody hangs cheerful poems in trams. And my wife holds it against me anyway, because in the poem I gave her a red beret, and hers was green.

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