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  What it means

  “Where mullein grows, a girl has no dowry.” Mullein (dziewanna) was associated with poor, uncultivated land. If it grows on your land, the family is too poor to provide a dowry.

  Vocabulary

  • dziewanna — mullein (a tall wild plant, Verbascum)
  • posag — dowry
  • panna — maiden, unmarried girl

  Grammar note

  'Bez posagu' — 'without a dowry', using the genitive after 'bez'.

  Cultural context

  Reflects the historical importance of the dowry in Polish rural society and the use of plants as indicators of land quality.

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