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  What it means

  “When the devil grows old, he wants to become a monk.” People who have lived sinfully or recklessly often turn pious or respectable in old age — but the change is seen as convenient rather than genuine.

  English equivalent

  The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be.

  Vocabulary

  • zestarzeć się — to grow old
  • diabeł — devil
  • mnich — monk
  • zostać — to become

  Grammar note

  'Zestarzeje się' is the perfective future of 'starzeć się'. 'Zostać mnichem' — 'mnichem' is the instrumental case after 'zostać'.

  Cultural context

  A sardonic proverb about late-life conversions and deathbed repentance. The English equivalent is almost identical, suggesting a shared European folk tradition.

  Intermediate

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