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Illustration for The Wild Swans

Polish · Intermediate

Dzikie łabędzie

Adapted from The Wild Swans

By Hans Christian Andersen

A princess works in silence to free her brothers from an enchantment that turns them into swans.

Read and listen in Polish, with English alongside.

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Intermediate sample in Polish

Scene 1

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Illustration for the scene “The wicked stepmother”

Scene 1 · Intermediate

Zła macocha

The wicked stepmother

Polish

Daleko stąd, w kraju, do którego jaskółki odlatują na zimę, mieszkał król. Miał jedenastu synów i córkę imieniem Eliza. Królewicze chodzili do szkoły z gwiazdami na piersiach i mieczami u boku. Pisali diamentowymi rysikami na złotych tabliczkach i tak łatwo przyswajali wiedzę, że nikt nie wątpił w ich królewskie pochodzenie.

English translation

Far away, in a country where swallows fly for the winter, there lived a king. He had eleven sons and a daughter named Eliza. The princes went to school with stars on their chests and swords at their sides. They wrote with diamond styluses on golden tablets and learned so easily that no one doubted they were of royal birth.

Polish

Tymczasem mała Eliza siedziała na szklanym stołeczku i oglądała książkę z obrazkami wartą tyle co pół królestwa.

English translation

Meanwhile, little Eliza sat on a glass stool, looking at a picture book worth half a kingdom.

Polish

Szczęśliwe dzieciństwo nie trwało jednak wiecznie. Król poślubił złą kobietę, która została macochą dzieci i wcale ich nie kochała. Okazała to już pierwszego dnia po ślubie. W pałacu trwała wielka uroczystość, a dzieci bawiły się w przyjmowanie gości. Zwykle dostawały potem pozostałe ciastka i jabłka. Tym razem królowa podała im filiżankę z odrobiną piasku i kazała udawać, że to ciasto.

English translation

But their happy childhood did not last forever. The king married a wicked woman, who became the children’s stepmother and did not love them at all. She showed this on the very first day after the wedding. A grand celebration was underway at the palace, and the children played at receiving guests. Usually, they were given the leftover cakes and apples afterward. This time, the queen gave them a cup with a little sand in it and told them to pretend it was cake.

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