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  What it means

  “When thunder comes from the south in July, it means damage to trees and a poor harvest.” Southern thunder in July was a bad omen for orchards and crops — predicting blight, damage, and a failed harvest.

  Vocabulary

  • grzmot — thunder
  • południe — south; also: noon
  • szwank — damage, harm
  • nieuroda — crop failure, poor harvest
  • podać się — to come from, to appear (archaic)

  Grammar note

  'Od południa' is the genitive of direction. 'Znaczy' here means 'signifies, foretells'. 'Drzewom' is the dative plural of 'drzewo'.

  Cultural context

  Thunder direction was carefully observed in Polish folk meteorology. Southern thunder in summer was particularly feared as a sign of crop failure.

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