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  What it means

  “Saint Catherine lost the key, Saint Andrew found it and immediately locked away the fiddles.” Catherine’s feast (25 November) ends the season of music and dancing; Andrew (30 November) locks it away for good as Advent begins.

  Vocabulary

  • klucz — key
  • zgubić — to lose
  • znaleźć — to find
  • zamknąć — to lock, to close
  • skrzypki — fiddle, violin (plural)
  • zaraz — immediately, right away

  Grammar note

  'Zgubiła' and 'zamknął' are past tense forms (feminine and masculine respectively). 'Skrzypki' is accusative plural.

  Cultural context

  In Polish folk tradition, Advent was a time of fasting and abstinence from dancing and music. The proverb uses the image of locking away the fiddles to describe the end of the pre-Advent festive season.

  Intermediate

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