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  What it means

  A husband is a snake, a wife is a martyr’s crown — a sardonic view of marriage in which the husband is treacherous and the wife suffers nobly.

  Vocabulary

  • mąż — husband
  • wąż — snake, serpent
  • żona — wife
  • męczeński — martyr's, of martyrdom
  • korona — crown

  Grammar note

  Two parallel 'co … to …' clauses. The rhyme mąż/wąż and żona/korona makes it memorable.

  Cultural context

  The image of the martyr's crown draws on Catholic tradition. The proverb is now read as a critique of patriarchal marriage norms.

  Intermediate

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