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  What it means

  “Bartholomew foretells what autumn will follow.” The weather on Saint Bartholomew’s Day (August 24) is said to predict the coming autumn. Part of the Polish tradition of reading the seasons through saints’ days.

  Vocabulary

  • Bartłomiej — Bartholomew (feast day: August 24)
  • zwiastować — to announce, to herald, to foretell
  • jesień — autumn
  • następować — to follow, to come after

  Grammar note

  'Jaka jesień następuje' is an embedded indirect question functioning as the object of 'zwiastuje'. 'Jaka' agrees with 'jesień' in gender (feminine).

  Cultural context

  August 24 falls near the end of summer in Poland. Like the Adam i Ewa and Bartłomiej proverbs, it belongs to a long tradition of phenological folk weather forecasting tied to the Catholic calendar.

  Intermediate

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