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  What it means

  If it freezes on Saint Barbara’s day (4 December), put the sleigh away and prepare a good cart instead — meaning Christmas will be mild, not snowy.

  Vocabulary

  • sanie — sleigh, sled
  • włożyć — to put in, to store away
  • szykować — to prepare, to get ready
  • wóz — cart, wagon

  Grammar note

  'Włóż' and 'szykuj' are imperative forms. 'Na górę' means 'upstairs' or 'up into storage'. The contrast between 'sanie' (sleigh) and 'wóz' (cart) signals the weather prediction.

  Cultural context

  This proverb is a counterpart to the goose-on-ice saying. Both use Saint Barbara's day as a pivot: frost on 4 December paradoxically predicts a green Christmas.

  Intermediate

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