Jacek Kaczmarski i Zbigniew Łapiński - Drzewo genealogiczne

My lineage doesn’t reach the amber trade route,
My pre-rat didn’t feast on Popiel held captive
And when not in one day Krakow was built
My bloodline lacked a representative.

Were they at Grunwald – silent are chronicles,
they were eaten alive If they took Moscow
I lack grandfathers in the main stream of events
To put as an example pro publico bono.

But some ancestors (seeing how my lips,
Of which epicurean cut is spoiled by false modesty)
Must've enjoyed privilege of Saxonian Augusts
and with Ciołek explored the gardens of Venice

Allegedly I'm related to a poet soldier
who by Kościuszko's side looked to hang bishops and magnates;
Was it him from whom I took up Jacobinian indiscretions
And no respect for blood blue, purple robes?

Nobody talks about my clan during November Night
And I guess they didn't relieve January's patrols
None of mine came back from Siberia inhumanely light
To write down a book of their miseries.


But some cold French guardsman
found warmth in Lithuanian county,
And some Potock tatar's eye gleam -ed
to a Proletaryat activist of the capital-city

My family tree's offshoot
burned in the Ghetto and Uprising
or in post-war slime took root
and sprung a bud – briefly about him:
I went to church – to watch stained glass,
in commie school I scored all A's,
Since childhood I was hungry for experience and travels
unaware it was of bad good beginnings

I've no scars from shackles, my foreskin's intact,
I was born in a cap, not under a turban roll;
After a decade in exile – I command Polish yet,
I implore you then to certify, that I am a Pole


He's got no scars from shackles, his foreskin's intact,

He was born in a cap not under a turban roll;

After a decade of exile – he commands Polish yet,

He asks us to certify he is a Pole













not to belittle the predecessor's work, just providing a more uncompromising angle on the subject matter - s

My lineage do not reach amber roads
My ancestor was not full on eating Popiel's body.*
And when Cracow was not built in a day
My blood's representative was missing too

Were they in Grunwald - chroniclers are silent
If they took the Moscow - they were eaten there
I do not have ancestors in a main stream of events
To give them as an example of pro publico bono

But some of antecendents( I see on my lips
whom cut breaks Epicurus affected shame)
They had to feel good with Augustus the Sas
And with Ciolek willingly visit the Wenera gardens.**

Allegedly poet-soldier was my relative
******I dont get this verse at all******
Ah, Is that so I took over from them Jacobinian indelicacy
And lack of worship for blue blood and cardinals?

There is a silence about my lineage in November Night
And I guess it did not strengthen January patrols
From Siberia anyone from me, hoary-headed
Was not coming back, to write a book of his misery

But some frozen french guardsman
Pleasantly warmed himself in one of lithuanian counties
And again Tatar of Potocki blinking his black eye
To the female activist of the proletariat

The most fresh branches of my tree
Been burned behind the walls of Ghetto and in the Uprising
Or catch on like flowers in postwar soil
And grown a bud - one line of him:

I went to the church - to watch stained-glass windows
In communist school I had all A grades
Since I was a kid I was hungry of travels and impact
Unaware, that was a nice beginning of evil

I do not have a scars from handcuffs, I have a foreskin
I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, not under Uhlan's cap
After the decade of exile, I still speak Polish
Then I ask for a document, that I am a Pole x2








* Polish words play: 'praszczur' means 'ancestor' but it is also similar to a word 'szczur' which means 'rat'. And there is a legend that Polish king Popiel had been eaten by rats.
This line has a meaning that the ancestors of an author had nothing to do with people of King's service a long ago.

**Ciolek was probably a king August Poniatowski, whom crest was Ciolek. Ciolek is also a little inpolite word to describe a not so bright person.