Talk:лебедзь

@Canonicalization Would "– А лічыць ці добра ўмееш? – працягваўся іспыт. – Ёсць у мяне пяць крэчатаў, а як выпушчу я іх, саб'е кожны па дзве белыя лебедзі. Колькі будзе лебедзяў?" (from Пяць мужчын у леснічоўцы: Аповесці, апавяданні, эсэ. by Uładzimir Arłou, 1994) work as a quote? ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 12:47, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

@Lingo Bingo Dingo: I don't understand everything ("Can you count well? – [...] – I have five gyrfalcons; if I set them loose, each will [...] two swans. How many swans are there?"), but I think so, yes. Canonicalization (talk) 16:46, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

@Canonicalization I think the first missing part indicates that something continues, could the second part mean something like "knock down two white swans (as prey)"? ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 12:04, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

@Lingo Bingo Dingo: Yes, something like that. саб'е (sabʺje) is apparently the third person singular of збіць (zbicʹ) (cognate with Russian сбить (sbitʹ)). I'm still not clear on what "працягваўся іспыт" means, but I suppose it's a parenthetical clause (the "..., he said" type). Canonicalization (talk) 12:47, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

It is in any case more than enough to be sure of the meaning "swan". A Google Translate to Dutch suggests the missing part means something like "the test/exam/research continues". ←₰-→ Lingo ^Bingo _Dingo (talk) 12:56, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Ah yes, that makes sense. Canonicalization (talk) 14:10, 8 August 2019 (UTC)