Day 88 of 128

Day 88: The Rooster Lawsuit

In the reading room of the State Archive in Pozna艅, history student Lena (A) shows her palaeography lecturer, Dr Hanna Wilk (B), an old entry she has been deciphering.

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

    Pani doktor, odczyta艂am wreszcie ten wpis z siedemnastowiecznej ksi臋gi miejskiej. To proces o koguta!

    Dr Wilk, I've finally deciphered that entry in the seventeenth-century town register. It's a lawsuit over a rooster!

  2. B

    Nic dziwnego, s膮dy miejskie ton臋艂y w skargach na ha艂asuj膮cych s膮siad贸w. Kto kogo pozwa艂?

    No surprise there, town courts were drowning in complaints about noisy neighbours. Who sued whom?

  3. A

    Wdowa po piekarzu pozwa艂a s膮siada, szewca, o koguta piej膮cego pod jej oknem na d艂ugo przed 艣witem.

    A baker's widow sued her neighbour, a shoemaker, over a rooster crowing under her window long before dawn.

  4. B

    Dziwne, w domu piekarza wstawano przecie偶 w 艣rodku nocy. Nie s膮dzi pani, 偶e kogut by艂 tylko pretekstem?

    Odd, since a baker's household got up in the middle of the night anyway. Don't you think the rooster was just an excuse?

  5. A

    Te偶 tak my艣l臋. Szewc, z kt贸rym si臋 procesowa艂a, od lat by艂 jej winien za chleb.

    I think so too. The shoemaker she was taking to court had owed her for bread for years.

  6. B

    Klasyczna windykacja w przebraniu. A czym si臋 sko艅czy艂 proces, o ile w og贸le zapisano wyrok?

    Classic debt collection in disguise. And how did the case end, if the verdict was even recorded?

  7. A

    Zawarli ugod臋: szewc sp艂aci d艂ug do 艣wi臋tego Marcina, a kogut p贸jdzie do garnka.

    They settled: the shoemaker would pay off his debt by St Martin's Day, and the rooster would go in the pot.

  8. B

    Z tego b臋dzie referat, przy kt贸rym na seminarium nikt nie za艣nie. Historia bez kr贸l贸w i bitew, za to z roso艂em na zgod臋.

    That'll make a seminar paper nobody will sleep through. History without kings or battles, but with a soup to seal the peace.

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