Day 113: Pansies in the Pothole
In a florist's in the centre of Rawicz, Krzesimir (A), a young man wheeling a bicycle with a buckled front wheel, asks the florist, Mrs Teodora (B), about the pothole outside her shop.
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
Przepraszam, 偶e wpadam z rowerem. Wie pani, kto odpowiada za t臋 dziur臋 przed kwiaciarni膮?
Sorry to barge in with my bike. Do you know who's responsible for that pothole outside your shop?
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B
Pytanie za sto punkt贸w. Jezdnia jest powiatowa, studzienka nale偶y do wodoci膮g贸w, a latarnia do energetyki.
That's the million-dollar question. The road belongs to the county, the manhole to the waterworks and the street lamp to the power company.
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A
Wjecha艂em prosto w bratki, kt贸re kto艣 posadzi艂 w tej dziurze. Mam teraz ko艂o w 贸semk臋.
I rode straight into some pansies somebody's planted in that pothole. Now my wheel's buckled.
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B
Ten kto艣 to ja, prosz臋 pana. Posadzi艂am je na znak protestu, bo powiat i miasto przerzucaj膮 si臋 t膮 dziur膮 jak gor膮cym kartoflem.
That somebody would be me. I planted them in protest, because the county and the town keep passing it back and forth like a hot potato.
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A
Przecie偶 to zwyk艂a dziura. Skoro jezdnia jest powiatowa, to nale偶a艂oby j膮 po prostu za艂ata膰.
But it's just an ordinary pothole. If the road belongs to the county, they ought to just fill it in.
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B
Starosta chce odda膰 ulic臋 miastu, a burmistrz nie przyjmie jej bez remontu. Dop贸ki si臋 spieraj膮, dziura jest niczyja.
The head of the county wants to hand the street over to the town, and the mayor won't take it until it's been repaired. While they argue, the pothole belongs to nobody.
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A
Czyli z powodu ich sporu sam zap艂ac臋 za ko艂o? Gdzie sk艂ada si臋 wniosek o odszkodowanie?
So because of their squabble I'll be paying for the wheel myself? Where do you even file a claim for compensation?
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B
Formalnie wci膮偶 jest powiatowa, wi臋c do zarz膮du dr贸g powiatowych. Ze zdj臋ciami, rachunkiem i 艣wiadkiem, cho膰by mn膮.
Officially it's still the county's, so to the county roads authority. With photos, the bill and a witness, me for instance.
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A
Dzi臋kuj臋. Bratki odkupi臋, bo nie wypada niszczy膰 jedynej rzeczy, jak膮 ktokolwiek zrobi艂 z t膮 dziur膮.
Thank you. And I'll replace the pansies, because it wouldn't be right to destroy the only thing anyone's ever done about that pothole.
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