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  What it means

  Whom God gives no wit, a blacksmith cannot forge it for him. Intelligence cannot be manufactured or forced.

  English equivalent

  You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

  Vocabulary

  • Bóg — God
  • rozum — reason, wit, intelligence
  • kowal — blacksmith
  • ukuć — to forge, to hammer out

  Grammar note

  'Komu... nie da' uses the dative 'komu' (to whom). 'Nie ukuje' is the negated perfective future of 'ukuć'. The parallel structure contrasts divine gift with human craft.

  Cultural context

  The blacksmith as a symbol of human craft and effort appears frequently in Polish folk proverbs. The contrast with God's gift emphasises that some things are beyond human power to create.

  Intermediate

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