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  What it means

  Literally “at the bugle call.” Means at the crack of dawn, at the very first signal — “at the bugle call,” “at first light,” “bright and early.”

  Vocabulary

  • hejnał — bugle call, reveille; the Kraków trumpet call

  Grammar note

  'Na hejnał' uses the accusative of 'hejnał' after 'na' — temporal.

  Cultural context

  The hejnał mariacki — the trumpet call played from St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków every hour — is one of Poland's most iconic sounds. The call that breaks off mid-phrase commemorates a trumpeter shot by a Tatar arrow.

  Intermediate

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