# Mało, że życie



## jacquesvd

Despite understanding every word I cannot exactly translate the following sentence, taken from an article in Przekrój:
 
Mało, że życie na starość szybciej płynie, to jeszcze czym ono jest, nie wiadomo. 
Różne książki są  tej sprawie, wytłumaczeń zero—mówi Katarzynie Janowskiej, Jerzy Pilch

I understand "Mało" to mean 'a bit' and guess that the sentence (in a for me strange word order) has to mean something like:
 
Nobody knows why life seems to pass a little bit faster in old age, but that is how it is. Several books exist on the subject but the explanations equate to zero says Jerzy Pilch to Kataryna Janowska 
 
Or does mało mean something  different like 'too bad'
 
I'm grateful for any explanation of this strange word order and the exact meaning of this sentence


----------



## Thomas1

jacquesvd said:


> Despite understanding every word I cannot exactly translate the following sentence, taken from an article in Przekrój:
> 
> Mało, że życie na starość szybciej płynie, to jeszcze czym ono jest, nie wiadomo.
> 
> Różne książki są  tej sprawie, wytłumaczeń zero—mówi Katarzynie Janowskiej, Jerzy Pilch
> 
> I understand "Mało" to mean 'a bit' and guess that the sentence (in a for me strange word order) has to mean something like:
> Life passes faster when you're old, as if it weren't enough/but that's not all, you also don't know what it [life] is.
> Nobody knows why life seems to pass a little bit faster in old age, but that is how it is. Several books exist on the subject but the explanations equate to zero says Jerzy Pilch to Kataryna Janowska
> I must admit that I didn't understand the second sentence until I read your translation, there is something that's missing in it, for instance: a "w". It should read: Różne książki są w tej sprawie, [...]
> 
> Or does mało mean something  different like 'too bad'
> No. It can be translated differently into English. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is any equivalent structure in English.
> 
> I'm grateful for any explanation of this strange word order and the exact meaning of this sentence


----------



## majlo

jacquesvd said:


> Różne książki są  tej sprawie,



I'm missing something here too. But if that was a fill-in gaps exercise, I would put _poświęcone _after _sprawie._


----------



## ><FISH'>

My impression would be something like "So little, that life is".


----------



## jacquesvd

Thank you Thomas1

yes, the word "w" was omitted during typing but the sense was clear.

Your translation makes the meaning fully clear but I still cannot relate the word "mało" to it.
 
Life passes faster: życie płynie  szybciej  
when you're old: na starość
One doesn’t know what it is: jeszcze nie wiadomo czyms ono jest
 
does  "mało" the correspond to your 'as if it weren't enough?


----------



## NotNow

Is it possible that the word _mało _goes with _nie wiadomo_ so the sentence would read _Little is not known_...?  

Perhaps if we know what the prior sentence says, the meaning would become clearer.


----------



## jacquesvd

NotNow said:


> Is it possible that the word _mało _goes with _nie wiadomo_ so the sentence would read _Little is not known_...?
> 
> Perhaps if we know what the prior sentence says, the meaning would become clearer.


 
Thanks, that's it: mało refers to 'nie wiadomo'. It's the title of a conversation that Katarzyna Jankowska had with the Polish author Jerzy Pilch and that appeared in Przekrój; so there is no immediately preceding or following sentence but after reading your comment I have no doubt anymore.

I keep on struggling with this very lose Polish word order, that is, however, also one of the charms of the language. I suppose that it offers great stylish possibilities to Polish writers.


----------



## Slovianka

Mało, że..... (= Nie dość, że.....), to jeszcze.....................

Example (in Polish/English):

(It is) not enough that it's raining, but what's more, the wind is strong.
Mało (= nie dość), że pada, to jeszcze strasznie wieje.
(The wind adds to the rain which is sufficiently unpleasant in itself)

It is a commonly used expression.

Mało, że życie na starość szybciej płynie, to jeszcze czym ono jest, nie wiadomo. 

As it were not enough (unpleasant in itself) that life passes fast when you are getting old, you cannot tell what the old man's life is.

It is a sad and sarcastic sentence.
And I think that all such sentences are sarcastic or ironic, although often without consious intention. Pilch is consciently sarcastic, of course.

So: this construction always appears in unpleasant circumstances.


----------

