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  What it means

  Sometimes February takes pity so that a person almost feels spring; but sometimes it rages so much that a person can barely endure — February can tease with warmth but also punish with cold.

  Vocabulary

  • zlitować się — to take pity, to relent
  • człek — person, man (archaic/poetic form of 'człowiek')
  • niby — as if, seemingly
  • zżymać się — to rage, to be furious
  • wytrzymać — to endure, to bear

  Grammar note

  'Człek' is an archaic nominative form of 'człowiek', common in proverbs and folk speech.

  Cultural context

  A longer folk weather proverb about February's mood swings, common in Polish rural tradition.

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