This ritual repetitiveness of Soplica's meals was adjusted only to the season and to the Catholic calendar of feasts and fasts. In this case, it's Lithuanian cold borscht, a summertime soup that is still as popular on hot days in both Lithuania and Poland as ''gazpacho'' is in Spain.
There is a linguistic problem here, though. Mickiewicz has used two different terms, "''chłodnik''" (pronounced ''{{smallpron|HWawd|WHAWDneek}}-neek'') and "''chołodziec''" (''haw-{{smallpron|Haw|Waw|WAWjets}}-jets''). Both words derive from the adjective "''chłodny''", or "cold", but while Mickiewiczologists have no doubt that "''chłodnik''" refers to a cold soup, there is some disagreement as to what kind of dish ''chołodziec'' was.<ref>{{Cyt
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If you've never heard of ''kisiel'' (pronounced ''{{smallpron|KEEkee|shel}}-shel'') or of this saying, don't worry. Mickiewicz apparently thought that even Polish people living outside Lithuania might be unfamiliar with either of these, so he added the following explanatory footnote:
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