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  What it means

  Literally “a lord’s favour rides on a dappled horse.” Means that the goodwill of the powerful is unreliable and unpredictable — here today, gone tomorrow. “The favour of the great is fickle.”

  Vocabulary

  • łaska — favour, grace, mercy
  • pański — lord's, master's (adjective)
  • pstry — dappled, motley, unpredictable
  • koń — horse

  Grammar note

  'Na pstrym koniu' uses the locative of 'pstry koń' after 'na'. 'Jeździ' — third person singular present of 'jeździć'.

  Cultural context

  A folk warning about the unreliability of patronage — deeply relevant in Polish history, where noble favour could make or break a career overnight.

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