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  What it means

  “When on Saint Barbara’s Day there are sharp frosts, prepare carts for winter; but when there is a thaw, have the sleigh seen to.” Sharp frost on December 4 means a dry winter (use a wheeled cart); a thaw means a snowy winter (prepare the sleigh).

  Vocabulary

  • święta Barbara — Saint Barbara (feast day: December 4)
  • ostry mróz — sharp frost
  • wóz — cart, wagon
  • roztajanie — thaw, melting
  • opatrzyć — to inspect, to see to, to prepare
  • sanie — sleigh

  Grammar note

  'Każ opatrzyć' — 'kazać' + infinitive means 'to have someone do something', an imperative construction. 'Na zimę' — 'na' with the accusative expresses purpose or preparation for a time.

  Cultural context

  The contrast between 'wóz' (cart) and 'sanie' (sleigh) as winter transport appears in several Polish weather proverbs, encoding practical agricultural wisdom about expected snow cover.

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