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  What it means

  Send a stupid donkey to Paris ; if he was a donkey here, he won’t become a horse there. Travel and education cannot transform a fool; character does not change with geography.

  English equivalent

  A fool at forty is a fool indeed.

  Vocabulary

  • poślij — send (imperative of 'posłać')
  • osioł — donkey, ass (also: fool)
  • głupi — stupid, foolish
  • koń — horse

  Grammar note

  'Poślij' is the imperative singular of 'posłać'. 'Nie będzie koń z niego' ; 'z niego' is the genitive of 'on', used after 'z' meaning 'out of him'.

  Cultural context

  Paris was the pinnacle of culture and refinement in the Polish imagination. The proverb mocks the idea that sending someone abroad will improve them.

  Intermediate

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