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  What it means

  One father can raise ten sons, but ten sons cannot feed one father. A bitter observation about filial ingratitude — parents sacrifice everything for their children, but children rarely repay the debt.

  English equivalent

  One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.

  Vocabulary

  • wychować — to raise, to bring up
  • żywić — to feed, to support
  • syn — son
  • ojciec — father

  Grammar note

  'Wychowa' is future perfective third person singular. 'Żywić nie mogą' — 'mogą' is third person plural present of 'móc'. 'Jednego ojca' is genitive after 'żywić' (direct object in the negative).

  Intermediate

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